Shop Class
by Strongraider101
Summary: With the commonwealth on the brink of war, the sole survivor finds himself incapable of deciding who to side with. So he distracts himself with anything else he can find. The mechanist, Far harbor, Nuka world, anything to get him away from the central issues within the commonwealth. Now though, he and his companion Dogmeat get stranded in the world of remnant, stuck teaching.
1. Chapter 1- The Wanderer

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout or RWBY**

 **The Wanderer**

Throughout human history, armed conflict had been a normalized occurrence for as long as nations and states have been around. However, as technology advanced, and conflicts became more and more violent, many began to say a very fitting phrase. War Never changes. Its less of a statement of fact, and more a simple observation on human nature's tendency for violence. Wars always come down to simple reasons in the end. Thats why this phrase exists. If you took away the technology, the politics, or the setting, in layman's terms, war is still the same.

Thats why war never changes, right? Thats what they say, but to The sole survivor, none of that really mattered, not anymore at least. It didn't used to be like that, as he was quite interested in the nature of war, since he served in the United states army. However now it was different, he had seen so much violence and horrible, nightmarish things, he wasn't sure he wanted to know anymore about war. Why had he seen so much? Simple. He lived his life in the Boston commonwealth. Two hundred years after nuclear fire had burned the world.

The sole survivor walked up a pale white circular incline that led to his destination within the walls of the institute. The institute was by far one of the greatest marvels within the commonwealth. Completely underground, and 'safe' from the forces that may threaten them, the institute housed very advanced technology, and some of the greatest minds that the commonwealth, and most likely, America, had to offer. The sole survivor had been thoroughly impressed with the technology displayed in the Institute, however with everything he had heard from the commonwealth surface, he was hesitant to say the institute were perfect. He continued his trek, before he found a sliding door, already open, and the person he was wanting to meet on the other side.

"Father, Its good to see you back." An old man on the other side of the door greeted, and Nathan smiled warmly. The old man wore a basic lab coat, and had a rather full white beard covering his caucasian face. His hair and beard were both well trimmed, and his eyes spoke of joy and relief upon looking at Nathan. "Its been nearly a month since your last visit."

"I've been busy in Nuka World Shaun, lots of raiders to kill and such." The sole survivor said a bit dismissively, a bit of sarcasm leaking into his words. "And I asked you to call me Dad, or Nathan, its weird for you to call me 'father' all the time." Nathan's face was covered by a large, Dark green gas-mask like armored helmet. This was complimented by the large dark green plates of marine combat armor on his chest, arms, and legs. The armor was a bit cumbersome, but when it came to protection, it was second only to power armor. Underneath the armor plates was the familiar blue of a vault suit, signaling the man's status as a former vault dweller. Shaun smiled, and walked back into his room, with Nathan following him. Shaun sat a table with two chairs by it, a small place he had specifically deigned for him and his father to talk.

"So tell me, how have you been?" Shaun asked, curiosity peaked, and Nathan sat down on the other chair. He looked at shaun for only a moment before responding.

"I've been well, although the same can't be said for most fo the raiders in Nuka world. It was a rough fight, but now I've got the working of a good trading post there." Nathan said, and Shaun nodded, a smile appearing on his lips.

"Always working to make the world a better place, aren't you?" Shaun asked, to which Nathan nodded, although hesitantly. Nathan tried to do his best for everyone, but he knew he couldn't make everyone happy, something that was painfully obvious with every time he visited Shaun for one of their talks. "So why can't you at least try to retrieve the reactor component?" Shaun asked with concern in his voice. Nathan averted his gaze from father after that question.

 _This is the quickest he's ever changed the subject to that._ Nathan thought to himself. _Would he understand if I told him I was being pulled in four different directions? Would he care? He would probably say it was all for the betterment of the commonwealth. But still. I need more time to..._ Nathan's thoughts were interrupted by a particular german Shepard rushing into the room, barking a bit, before trotting up to Shaun, the older man petting the dog's head.

"Well hello Dogmeat." Shaun said pleasantly, the dog panting a bit as his head was being pet. Nathan couldn't help but smile at the display, but his smile was hidden behind his helmet. _No, I'm still not ready to make my decision. Between Far Harbor, the Mechanist, and now Nuka world...I have more things to do before I decide on the fate of the commonwealth. Man that sounds dramatic._

"You already know my answer shaun. In time. I'm...I'm not ready." Nathan semi-admitted. And Shaun sighed, before he nodded. Nathan could tell he was disappointed, but he also knew that shaun wouldn't pressure him about it twice in a day, because Shaun knew why he came here almost every month.

"Of course fa-I mean, Nathan, but please don't spend too much more time. I don't know if we'll have this opportunity for much longer." Nathan nodded, knowing he was right. "So is there anything else you'd like to talk about?" Shaun asked a bit hesitantly.

"Oh, you have no Idea, now should I start with the blue glowing deathclaws, or the fake Alien ship..." Shaun shuddered a bit at his father's words, steeling himself for the tales he was about to hear.

* * *

"I don't think this is a good idea." An institute scientist said warily as his superior, Justin Ayo, who was standing behind him, watching his work. They were both just outside of the institute's teleporter, behind the main terminal that controlled the large device. Justin Ayo was well known in the institute, as he was the current acting director of the synth retention Bureau. Technically the true director was a fellow named Dr. Zimmer, but he was still away on business within the capital wasteland. The director was a bit of an older man with a rough white mustache and nearly bald head. He currently had an expression of focus on his face, as he was getting the other scientist in front of him to do something that would be highly frowned upon by their leader, Father.

"I don't care what you think, keep working, he could come back any minute." Justin said hurriedly. _I need this finished fast, if someone else finds us, they'll ask questions._ The director thought to himself. _If only I could have accessed his power armor too._ At that last thought, the scientist at the terminal clicked out of it, with an audible beep resonating from the machine. The lights within the teleporter room went black, but only for a moment, before they became illuminated again. "Is it done?" Justin asked, before he pushed past the scientist, and looked at the computer screen, to see that it said 'Teleporter optimization complete.' "Good."

"Can I go now?" The scientist asked, while looking around nervously briefly, and Justin silently nodded. The scientist approached the elevator at the other end of the room, and Justin walked over to the side of the side of the room where there was a small corridor that led to a sliding door he could open. As the elevator descended with the nervous and mostly unwilling scientist gone, Justin opened the door, briefly stepped inside, closed the door, and waited on the telltale sound of power armor.

Justin waited for nearly an hour in his hiding spot before he heard the elevator reach the teleporter level again, and the sounds of heavy footsteps reached his ears, along with the sound of a dog's trotting. The director smiled to himself, knowing his plan would work. The steps came closer, but did not approach the door he was hiding behind. The steps stopped for a brief moment, and he surmised that Nathan had reached the control terminal.

"Alright Dogmeat, lets head to sanctuary, I got some stuff to drop off. Then its off to Nuka world again." Nathan said, his voice filtered through the power armor's helmet. He typed the coordinates onto the terminal, and Dog meat went ahead of him, and entered the teleporter. Nathan was currently standing with his full suit of X-01 power armor, it's red hot rod paint design it's most striking feature. Although the outside of it housed several different weapons. The machine in front of the sole survivor hummed briefly before he himself stepped away from the console, and into the teleporter. He sighed to himself, knowing his teleportation was imminent. "Sure hope Preston doesn't ha-" He was cut off as two brilliant lightning like purple flashes erupted on top of both Nathan and Dogmeat, both of them gone within the blink of an eye.

Justin left his hiding place in a hurry, and went over to the computer terminal. _Now that he's gone, I need to fix this thing before anyone else finds out._ Thankfully he had seen what the other scientist had been doing, and simply needed to reverse his work. However his plan had been successful. Nathan, the only survivor of vault one eleven had been a thorn in his side since the very beginning. It only got worse though, as he had continually refused to acquire the reactor component. Plus Father had been adamant on getting him to do it for them. Not anymore though. By using codes from satellite arrays around the commonwealth that he had gathered from synth scouts, Justin was able to devise a way to teleport Nathan so far away, not even the institute's relays could recover him. This would require destroying the satellite sites afterwords, but that was trivial. But he was not an expert when it came to the teleporter or it's technology, so he needed a scientist from advanced systems to actually make the code, and apply it. An offer of multiple personal synths would ensure the scientist's silence. He just hoped he hadn't permanently damaged or altered the teleporter in any way.

* * *

"-ve another settlement that needs my help. I've helped just about every settlement in the commonwealth three times...now." Nathan said, at first being annoyed, but soon his annoyance was overcome with confusion as he saw he was not in sanctuary, but instead was in some kind of forest. A very green forest. "What the hell?" He looked around, and found Dogmeat sniffing the air curiously, but he also continued to see green trees everywhere he looked. Something that shouldn't have been possible within the commonwealth. "I must be in far harbor," Nathan said, coming to his realization. "Or somewhere near it. The land around far harbor looked kinda green." Nathan said aloud, and Dogmeat came up to his side, looking at the power armored man with a head tilt. Nathan sighed, figuring he'd have to find a way back to the commonwealth somehow. "C'mon boy, lets find a way back home." Nathan began to walk southward, according to his Pipboy at least, in an effort to at least head in the direction of Boston. _I hope I have enough fusion cores to get there._ Nathan thought worriedly.

Not five minutes into his trek south, he heard a growl come from some trees to his left. _Great, probably more mongrels._ Nathan thought to himself. Dog meat growled back at the location as Nathan drew a weapon he had attached to the hip of his power armor. The Deliverer, a unique, powerful, ten millimeter pistol. The weapon was rather small in comparison to the power armor's glove, but Nathan could still use it effectively. Besides he wouldn't need too big of a weapon for a few dogs.

Out of the brush three large pitch black dog-like creatures with odd white external bones emerged, greatly confusing the sole survivor. _Huh, radiations a hell of a thing._ Nathan thought, before he aimed his weapon at the center dog threateningly. "Be Calm!" Nathan ordered, attempting to intimidate the dogs into submission. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work, as the same wolf that he was attempting to pacify immediately lunged at him. The creature was surprisingly light, as it's attack barely managed to budge the power armored man. He responded by grasping it's right forearm, and firing multiple rounds into it's chest. The beast cried in pain, and Nathan shoved to the side, just in time for the other two to pounce on him simultaneously. He was a bit caught off guard, but even with two of them, the power armor kept him in place.

Nathan reared his left fist back, and delivered a solid punch to the one on his left side, while he shot the other in the head with the Deliverer twice, before pistol whipping it away. Dogmeat barked several times, and Nathan could tell what his partner was trying to tell him. A year or two of traveling with anything would allow you to discern certain behaviors or patterns. Nathan recognized the tone of Dogmeat's bark instantly, a warning. Nathan turned to his left only to see the first wolf he thought he had killed was about to claw at him. Nathan brought his arm up, and blocked the strike. He then fired more rounds into the beast, this time into it's head, and the beast's skull broke apart as the bullets tore through it. The beast slumped over, motionless, before it began to fade away into thin air. Before Nathan could wonder what in the hell that was about, he heard the familiar sound of something clanging against the back of his armor. He turned around to see both of the other dogs were up, one clawing at him, and the other being distracted by Dogmeat. Nathan's faithful companion was keeping a good distance between him and the wolf, which the sole survivor was thankful for, as while he was protected in his armor, he imagined the sheer length could do some major damage to anyone not protected.

Nathan shot the one attacking him once, before the familiar click of a weapon being out of ammo reached his ears. _Shit._ Nathan swore in his mind, seeing the wolf in front of him shake it's head a few times, more in annoyance than anything. _These things sure are tough._ Nathan then lifted his right leg up over the beast's head, and slammed it down before the thing could hope to dodge. The weight and force of the armored leg crushed the wolf's head instantly, and it too began to fade away. He reloaded his weapon, before he aimed it at the last wolf, and fired at it's head, until the skull began to break, and it slumped towards him in a vain attempt to attack. The last body began to fade away too, leaving no trace behind.

"Alright, so were these things figments of my imagination, or..?" Nathan asked himself, but had no answer. Dogmeat was sniffing the area around where one of the beasts had vanished. Which ruled his theory out, if Dogmeat was searching for it, it had to be real. Right? He shook his head, figuring he'd think about it later. He turned back south, and kept walking. He went another ten minutes before more of those wolves appeared.

* * *

In the world of remnant, within the city of Vale, and further within a school by the name of beacon academy there was man sitting at a desk within an office, within the school building itself. This man was older looking, with grey hair, glasses, a Dark suit, and a green scarf. He was currently looking at a near translucent screen with a cup of coffee in his hand. The screen displayed images of a large robot-looking humanoid fighting off pitch black creatures with a dog. Needless to say, the man wasn't expecting to see that when he woke up today.

"Professor Ozpin." A female's voice caught the man's attention, and he turned his head ever so slightly to see the woman who had called his name. She was a questionably middle aged woman that wore a long-sleeved white frilled top, and a black high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and black-brown stockings.

"Yes, Mrs. Goodwitch?" Ozpin asked, as if nothing at all was going on.

"What are we going to do about this trespasser?" She asked, a bit perturbed that the headmaster of the school they were at was not concerned with a hunter suddenly tripping the motion cameras within the emerald forest. "He is technically trespassing." She assured, almost certain that Ozpin would argue with her on that point.

"I'm not sure, I think it would be best to get him out of the forest first, then we can worry about what we're going to 'do with him'" Ozpin said with a smirk, and Glynda Goodwitch narrowed her eyes for a moment, before grabbing an electronic tablet on the desk, and tapping a few buttons on it.

"I'll get a bullhead ready." Ozpin smiled a bit, before he turned his attention back to the armored man. He had just dispatched another five beowolves with relative ease. However Ozpin could tell that this man, while skilled, was not a hunter. It was rare for hunters to wear heavy armor, as their aura protected them, and if the armor was too restrictive it could prevent them from fighting effectively. This man however was walking around in what appeared to be red and black flame painted, hydraulic powered armor with a few weapons strapped to the back of it. That was also something very unusual to see on a hunter, multiple weapons. _I am most interested in just where this man is from._ Ozpin thought as he continued to watch, before Glynda let him know the bullhead was prepped and ready.

* * *

Nathan finished off another wolf before reloading the Deliverer again. _Its a good thing I have a fuck load of ten millimeter ammo._ He thought to himself. One of the perks for anyone lucky enough to acquire a Pipboy, was gaining the device's atomizing storage. Basically it could store a near unlimited amount of stuff in it corresponding to the strength of the user. If put into power armor, this 'weight limit', as the Pipboy called it, was increased substantially. Nathan had prepped up because he was planning on going to Nuka world to clear out some more deathclaws that had been killing traders. Some people think there was a nest, and so Nathan had prepped accordingly.

Dogmeat approached his side, the canine's tale wagging after defeating another round of the wolves. Nathan was about to praise the dog for supporting him, but also not getting into too much danger himself. However Dogmeat's ears shot up, and he growled while looking into the brush. _Great, more wolves._ Nathan thought, before turning in the direction Dogmeat was looking, only to see just one shape moving toward them. One very large bear-like shape. It was pitch black, with the only exceptions being the skull on it's head and the spines on it's back. Very reminiscent of the wolves he had fought previously. _What is with the wildlife around here?_ Nathan asked himself as he put the Deliverer back into it's holster. While effective, he figured he'd need more that that to take this thing down.

He used a few dials on the outside of his right power armor gauntlet to access the Pipboy. An amber menu showed up on his power armor HUD, and he went to his weapons, retrieving an old favorite of his. A blue digital light briefly emerged from the Pipboy, forming into a rough, rusty looking weapon made of wood and pipe. It was a very modified pipe rifle that Nathan had been using almost ever since he first emerged from the vault. The bear creature roared, and began to charge at him. He aimed the rifle, and let loose some of the many thousands of .38 caliber rounds into the beast. The skull plate was quickly being chipped at by the semi-automatic fire, and it howled as the bullets teared through it's body. Nathan smirked, even though it was an old weapon, the unnatural penetrating abilities of the weapon never failed him. Never had another pipe gun of any kind been able to actually cause dents in power armor.

The bear wasn't dead yet however, and Nathan simply kept firing, the forty eight round magazine on the weapon wasn't empty yet. Dogmeat ran behind the bear, and bit into it's back heel, causing it to stall completely. Nathan's weapon ran dry, and as he reloaded, the bear shifted it's attention to Dogmeat. It attempted to swipe and claw at the canine, but the german Shepard stayed out of reach. Nathan then walked parallel to the creature, and fired rounds into it's unprotected side. It howled, and stumbled. Nathan fired some more at it's head, but soon it began to fade, signaling it's demise.

"Well, that thing was pretty tough." Nathan said to himself, before he looked down at the rifle in his hands."Thanks again Ricky." Nathan still wasn't sure entirely why he had named the weapon that, but he kept it, figuring it wasn't hurting anything. Dogmeat shook his head a bit, before scratching the back of his ear.

Nathan looked around them, and besides the fact there was a clearing not too far from them, the forest was till largely the same. No landmarks, people, unusual sights, normal radioactive beasts, or anything to really indicate he was going the right direction besides the compass. _Just how much further do we have to go?_ Nathan asked himself. As if the universe read his thoughts, he heard what sounded like jet engines. _Jets? There weren't that many in the air force when I was still in the army, why are there jets out here?_ Nathan thought, before he saw what could only be described as a fusion between a jet and a Vertibird. The side of the expensive looking vehicle was open, revealing two rather well dressed individuals. The strange Vertibird lowered until it landed within the clearing, Nathan watching carefully the whole time. One of the individuals was an older man with a cup of what appeared to be coffee, a cane, and a small smile. While the other individual was a rather attractive secretary-esk woman who was looking at him suspiciously. They stepped off the platform, and approached him. Dogmeat was looking at them with an attentive look, his ears perched up high.

"Well hello there." Ozpin greeted politely, briefly glancing at the dog at the armored man's side. "My name is professor Ozpin, may I ask why you're trespassing here?" Ozpin said a bit tiredly, as he didn't particular like to accuse people of that unless they were on campus itself. However it was necessary. Ozpin noted that the man gripped the very...rough looking rifle he had a bit tighter.

"Didn't know I was trespassing." the man replied, his voice given an electronic fuzz from the helmet. "So just where am I? Afraid I'm a bit lost." The dog by the man's side continued to watch them carefully, both Ozpin and Glynda noting just how loyal the Dog seemed.

"Yes, it would appear so." Ozpin said with a bit of amusement, but Nathan didn't let his guard down. _This maniac has these kinds of things running around his property? Maybe he's tried to get rid of them, but he doesn't seem like the 'I'm desperate to get rid of these things' type. Ive seen that before. No, he seems more like the 'I know what exactly is happening, and I don't care because I did it' type._ Nathan thought to himself. "Perhaps we could offer you a ride to the academy? Its certainly a lot safer than out here." Nathan paused, weighing his options.

"Oh? So you let monsters run around everywhere else on your property?" Nathan asked a bit dangerously. He noticed the woman glare at him with as much negativeness he was putting out, while Ozpin seemed confused. Then his mouth formed an 'O' as he realized something.

"So I take it you don't know what Grimm are?" Ozpin asked, and the woman looked at him oddly, while Nathan tilted his head just slightly.

"What the fuck is a Grimm?" the man asked, more suspicion is his voice than ever. Ozpin also noticed that Glynda was scowling a bit at the man, ,most likely because of his language. She never did like cursing. Ozpin looked at the man and sighed. _So he obviously isn't from around here. He also doesn't seem to trust me, not that I can blame him considering his position._ Ozpin thought.

"If you don't know what Grimm are, then I believe we have a lot to talk about." Ozpin said, addressing Nathan. "Please, we don't mean you any harm. I can understand you may be a little confused, but so are we. We didn't expect someone to suddenly trip the motion cameras in the center of the forest without first tripping the outer ones." At his words, Nathan paused, realizing what the man had just said. _So, this place has cameras...everywhere? And I didn't even see them? Huh. Alright, lets see what they have to say._ Nathan visibly relaxed, and Ozpin smiled gently. "So, will you hear us out?" Ozpin asked, and Nathan nodded, the woman relaxing her glare as well, but she still seemed suspicious. "Great, but if you don't mind, may we know your name?" Nathan thought for a bit whether or not to tell them his real name, but figured there was no harm in doing so.

"Nathan, Nathan Sullivan."

* * *

Nathan was now riding in what he learned was called a bullhead. The jet powered aircraft floating them across the sky at an incredible speed, even faster than the Vertibirds he's flown in. Dogmeat seemed to be having a great time, but Nathan wouldn't let him go too far near the edge. Fearing he might fall out of the fast vehicle. He could tell that Ozpin and the now named woman, Glynda, were watching him, but he didn't exactly care that much. He was just glad to be out of that forest. They soon approached what could only be described as a castle of a school. He could tell it was a school, as not only had Ozpin told him, but he could see the dorms and a few other communal buildings and rooms suggesting it was such. But none of that detracted from the almost ethereal beauty the school had. Soon they landed on a deck clearly made for the bullheads, and they all hopped off. Nathan more so crashing due to the sound his armor made.

"Follow us, and we'll talk more in my office." Ozpin said as he walked ahead of Nathan, Glynda following close behind. Nathan and Dogmeat followed as well, but the man had questions now.

"Ozpin, if this is a school, then where are all of the students? Its the middle of the day. Are they all in their classes or something?" Nathan asked curiously, and Glynda turned her head slightly to look behind her at Nathan.

"Classes don't start for another month. We're currently prepping for them." Glynda explained. Nathan nodded in understanding, putting his rifle on his shoulder, pointing it upwards. "We saw you pull that out of thin air too." She said, and Nathan nearly tripped at being somewhat discovered. He should have expected that, but he was still a bit caught off guard by it. Glynda let the smallest trace of a smile form on her lips, before it was quickly squashed, and she looked forwards again.

They approached the central building, which had a large central tower that dominated the skyline. The overall architecture of the school was very impressive, and Nathan couldn't help but be in awe of it. Even Boston's own buildings, while extremely practical, were nowhere near the castle-esk image the school gave. The only thing that came close, appropriately enough, was CIT. Or Nuka world. However that was a different kind of awe. Ozpin opened some double doors to the building, and the four of them made their way down some rather plain looking hallways to an elevator. They all entered, although because of Nathan's armor, it was a bit tighter than it should have been.

Once they stepped out, Nathan found himself inside of an office who's interior seemed to be stylized off a clocktower. Although they may have simply been the result of his office being all the way up here. The large table at the other end of the room sported what appeared to be holographic screens displaying images of the forest Nathan was just in. _So those were the cameras he was talking about._ Nathan thought as he observed the screens. _Man, these guys sure are advanced. Not even the institute has screens like these._ Ozpin sat down at a chair behind the desk, and Glynda took a spot next to him, now holding a strange black tablet.

"Now then why don't we begin?" Ozpin said, sipping on his coffee. "Where exactly are you from?" Nathan looked at him for a moment, and then at Glynda, and both of them were looking at him expectantly.

"I'm from Boston, so where exactly is here? Are we near Far harbor? Because I know that place, and can find myself back from there." Nathan said, hoping to get home as soon as he could, and he was received with an odd glace from Glynda, and a raised eyebrow from Ozpin.

"I'm afraid I've never heard of Far harbor, Or Boston for that matter. The closets city to here is Vale. Have you heard of Vale before?" Ozpin's question caused Nathan to pause, before he stepped closer to the desk. Glynda began to tap on the tablet in front of her, appearing to note some things down.

"You've never heard of Boston? How?" Nathan asked with confusion, ignoring Ozpin's previous question.

"Well, I don't believe a place called 'Boston' exists in Remnant. At least, none that I know of." The headmaster explained, and Nathan seemed extremely perplexed. "It would seem you are more lost than you first realized friend." Ozpin said gently. Perhaps _more lost than anyone has ever been._ Ozpin thought.

"Remnant? What? Are you bullshitting me or something?" Nathan asked dangerously, and Glynda sent him a dreadful glare.

"I apologize, but I am not 'bullshitting you' I have never heard of Boston." Ozpin asserted, and Nathan huffed a bit.

"What about America?" This question was asked with a bit of finality, as if this was a sure fire question to answer whatever he was wondering himself.

"Pardon?" Ozpin asked, unfamiliar with any word like that.

"The United Sates of America, have you heard of it?" His question was direct, and had a slightly angry undertone. This caused Glynda to put a hand on her collapsed riding crop.

"No." Ozpin answered simply, at which, Nathan stepped back a bit, Glynda eyeing him suspiciously. "Nathan? Are you alright?" He received no response, instead Nathan sighed as he hung his head a bit. Dogmeat, sensing his master's distress, walked over to him, lightly scratching at Nathan's armored leg.

"Looks like I found myself in a completely unfamiliar place. Again." Nathan said, more to himself than to anyone else. He had felt the same way when he left the vault, but this was different. These people didn't even know what America was. Unless he was in some god forsaken part of the Yukon, he was pretty sure he wasn't even on earth anymore. The vault had been similar, but at least he knew what the city had been. Now though, he was completely lost. _Guess I better take this one step at a time. It won't do any good to panic or anything. I got here, so I can get back._ Nathan thought as he saw his host's inquisitive but also cautious gaze.

"Again?" Ozpin asked, and Nathan looked at the man, before sighing.

"Sorta, last time was...different though. Moving on, so where exactly am I? You said Vale right?" Nathan questioned, to which the professor nodded.

"Yes, we are technically within the kingdom of Vale, although its a kingdom in name only." Ozpin explained. "There are three other kingdoms outside of Vale that each house a hunter training academy as well. There are some independent locations outside of the four kingdoms, but not many." Nathan nodded, seeming to understand. Before anyone could say anything else, a beeping was heard coming from Nathan. "Was that you?"

"Uh, yea, that was my suits way of telling me It needs a new core soon. Anyways, so what exactly were those Grimm out there then? Thats what you called them right? You guys look to have really advanced tech, why are there black wolves that attack on sight in your backyard? Your guard dogs or something?" Nathan asked, this time with a bit of annoyance. Ozpin smiled at that, amused by the man's reasoning. Seeing an outside perspective on things often gave Ozpin himself a chance to rethink what he thought was normal, but he never thought he'd meet someone that had an otherworldly perspective.

"Those would be what we call Grimm. What they are we aren't quite sure, but we do know they've been terrorizing humanity for thousands of years." Ozpin said, which caused Nathan to do a double take. _Thousands? Damn. And I thought having to deal with mutated aliens for a decade or two must have been torture._ Nathan thought to himself, but he did nod, understanding that his hosts didn't even know entirely what they were.

"Huh, good to know they weren't one of your failed science experiments. I was kinda worried there for a minute." Nathan said with a joking tone, causing Ozpin to chuckle a bit, while Glynda gave him a deadpan stare. "So then, how exactly do I get home? If you guys have any Idea." At Nathan's question, Ozpin hummed for a moment, while Glynda raised an eyebrow.

"I honestly don't know, however, you are more than welcome to take some time here to get your bearings." Ozpin said with some genuine concern. "I can understand if your situation may be...concerning to you." Nathan looked down to where Dogmeat was, and then back up at Ozpin. _If this really is some 'other world' then I suppose I don't have anywhere else to go. As nice as this guy seems, I can tell he's hiding secrets. He is offering me, a complete and total stranger, a place at his academy until I can find a way back. Of course students aren't here, but still... I guess as the old saying goes, 'Never look a gift horse in the mouth.'_

"That would be nice."

* * *

 **Author's notes**

 **Discord server:** /uDxVym8

 **The first chapter has been released. I know not much happened, but I hope this a good start. Let me know what you think in the reviews. Obviously a little early, but I'm doing something new so feedback is most appreciated. Nothing else much to say, if your interested in participating in the poll on my author's page, feel free to vote. Although I don't know If I'll start a new story for quite a while since I'm starting this one. Constructive Criticism is always welcome! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and as always...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2- An offer he can't refuse

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout or RWBY**

 **An Offer He Can't Refuse**

Glynda Goodwitch walked down the empty halls of beacon academy with a purposeful stride, even if she had a contemplative frown on her face. She was currently heading towards the only occupied dorm in the school, the one that currently housed their newest guest and his Dog. Glynda was not pleased with being given the task of waking him up, and escorting him to Ozpin's office, but she supposed that if anyone were to do it, it would be her. She quickly found the door to the door, and rapped on it's surface. _I just hope it's not a disaster in there._ Glynda thought to herself. _It bad enough we're understaffed, one more room to make up is the last thing I want to add to our list._ As she thought this, she heard a bit of shuffling on the other side.

"Come in!" Glynda heard Nathan's voice call from the room. She opened the door without hesitation and came to the sight of his red-flame painted armor, standing right in front of the door. _I suppose to anyone that isn't experienced, or expected this, it would have shocked them._ Glynda thought, quickly deducing the armor must be on some kind of stand by mode given how motionless it was, and the fact that Nathan was to the left of it, wearing a bulky looking set of dark green armor with a blue jump suit underneath. The Dog he had was currently on one of the beds, and was watching her with interest. "Morning." Nathan said curtly, his voice slightly muffled from his helmet. Glynda noticed the odd clunky device on Nathan's left wrist, but chose not to comment on it.

"Good morning Mr. Sullivan, I take it you slept well?" Glynda asked as she looked over the room. Nathan could tell she was looking for something that was damaged or out of place. Thankfully he was a good housekeeper. Dogmeat hopped off the bed, and came up next to him. Dogmeat's red bandanna was still on his neck, and Nathan was thinking about giving him the dog armor, but decided against it.

"Best sleep in a while actually. I appreciate the hospitality." Nathan answered politely, and Glynda nodded, now looking at where Nathan had slept, the covers only slightly ruffled. Nathan watched her for a moment, and then she turned toward him, seemingly done searching.

"Its not a problem Mr. Sullivan, now, professor Ozpin would like to speak with you again this morning. So if you would follow me." Glynda then turned toward the door, assuming Nathan would follow her. Nathan and Dogmeat did so, all three of them walking down the hallway at a relatively brisk pace. As they traveled, Nathan looked at all the doors to the various dorms as one question plagued his mind. _Which ones are the boys dorms and which ones are the girls?_ The three of them made their way toward the central area, around where Nathan remembered the elevator to Ozpin's office was. However instead of heading to the elevator, they went to a white door that had a gold plaque labeled 'Teacher's lounge'. _Well, I guess I get to meet the other professors here too._ Glynda opened the door, and ushered them inside. Once Nathan entered, he was immediately struck with the smell of coffee. The room appeared to be a typical break room, having a few small tables with chairs, and a large counter area with a coffee maker, refrigerator, microwave, sink, and even a small stove. At the area of the counter where the coffee machine was, he saw Ozpin, with three others that all seemed to be enjoying a cup of joe.

"Ah! Mr. Sullivan, I hope you slept well?" Ozpin greeted with a smile, as all of the attention was brought to him. Nathan saw that two of the individuals were who he assumed were male teachers. One was a portly man with a fine brown vest, and black pants. He had combed grey hair that matched his somewhat oversized mustache. Nathan noticed that despite his eyes looking closed, the man seemed to be studying him with interest. The other man was tall and lanky, an almost complete opposite body type to the other. He had wild green hair, a long sleeve button up shirt, and glasses that somehow obscured his eyes. The final stranger was a woman with pink hair, and was in a nurse's dress uniform. She was quite slender, with black stockings hugging her legs.

"I did, so you wanted to talk to me about something?" Nathan asked as he approached them, and Ozpin's smile grew a little wider.

"I see our guest likes to get down to business." The portly man said with a small chuckle. "So your this Nathan we heard about? Appeared in the middle of the forest huh?" Nathan looked at the man and gave him a small nod. "My name is professor Peter Port, me and the other professors have been informed about your...'predicament'." Port said while motioning to the other two beside him.

"Yes, a very interesting predicament indeed, one that we'd all be interested in learning more about." The leaner man said. "Oh, and my name is Bartholomew Oobleck, a pleasure to meet you. And this is professor Peach." He said, motioning toward the pink haired lady next to him, who simply waved.

"That is one of the reasons I called you here, We'd like to know more about your predicament. If you don't mind talking about it of course." Ozpin said in a polite manner. Nathan hummed for a moment. _This guy has got some good charisma skills, He gives off an aura of trustworthiness all the time._ Nathan thought to himself. _I suppose it won't hurt to tell them, but I doubt they'll believe me. If they don't know what America is, and have never heard of it, either I am very VERY far from the North American continent, or I'm in some sort of alternate reality. Either way, these guys are my best ticket out of here right now._

"I guess I should start by saying that me coming here wasn't intentional. I was trying to go back home. However something must have happened to the teleporter I used. Because instead of my house, all I saw was that forest." Several eyebrows raised at that. Nathan figured it mostly because of him referencing teleportation. "And before anyone asks, yes, I did in fact say teleporter." Oobleck began muttering to himself a bit, and Port laughed.

"Well, I dare say that teleporter certainly did bring you far away from home." Port said with a small chuckle. "Ozpin said you've never heard of Vale before, correct?" Nathan nodded, and Peach's eyes seemed to widen a bit, the first real reaction Nathan has seen out of her. "How about Vacuo? Atlas? Mistral?" Nathan shook his head at each name. "How about...Aura?" Nathan once again shook his head.

"Is Aura another place I should know?" Nathan asked blandly, wondering how many more names of places the professor would say. Port simply laughed.

"Aura's not a place, it's what protects us hunters and huntresses in battle. The fact that you don't know about that, the kingdoms, or Grimm-" Port was suddenly cut off by his skinnier college.

"Its as if he is not even from remnant." Oobleck's words hung in the air for a few seconds, before the silence was broken by Ozpin.

"It seems this must be a 'worse case scenario' for you Mr. Sullivan. You truly are lost." The headmaster said a bit somberly. Nathan sighed, looking at their faces. They seemed both shocked, and pitiful. As if they had just watched a car wreck, but there was so much damage, there was nothing they could do to help. Nathan had seen that look plenty of times from people who heard or asked about his search for Shaun. After everything thats happened though, hes kind of sick of that expression.

"I'll find some way to get back." Nathan said simply, and Ozpin smiled.

"I have no doubt you will. Now there is something else I'd like to talk with you about." Ozpin said, and Nathan noticed the other professors stiffen a bit. "You see, we're a bit understaffed here. We do have some janitors around, but none of them are willing or able to teach any classes. While I don't know much about you or where you come from, that armor looks rather unique, may I assume you made it yourself?" That was an odd thing to ask out of the blue, but Nathan hesitantly nodded.

"Sorta, The base shape and design was already made, but I've been modifying it for a long while. The same goes for my weapons as well." Ozpin nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

"Well then Mr. Sullivan, how would you like to become the resident shop teacher here?" Nathan stared at Ozpin for a long moment as silence passed between them, with Ozpin sipping from his mug.

"What?" Was the only thing Nathan could manage. _He only just met me yesterday, and now he wants me to teach a fucking class!? Did somebody spike his coffee or something?_ Nathan thought, continuing to stare incredulously at the headmaster.

"You don't have to make up your mind right now of course, but while reviewing the footage from the forest yesterday, I thought it might be good to have another experienced adult around the campus." Nathan lets those words sink in for a moment. "If you decide against it, I will have to ask you to leave campus once school begins again. At the moment, I can let you stay, but while the students are here and classes are in session, I can't allow you to stay for nothing." Nathan nodded, understanding where he was coming from. Although the sole survivor still found it hard to believe he was being offered a position here already.

"I'll...have to think about it." Nathan answered, and Ozpin nodded. "There's still a lot of stuff I'd like to know before I go signing any contracts."

"I understand, so maybe you'd like to visit Vale? Its a short ride down there, and I'm sure you'll be able to find out a lot about this place by experiencing it for yourself." At Ozpin's suggestion, Nathan hummed before nodding. _If I'm going to be staying here, I might as well get a layout for the city. Find the shops that I'll need, or maybe a junkyard would be more appropriate._

"I think that'd be for the best." Nathan answered, and Ozpin motioned toward Glynda.

"Ms. Goodwitch, would you be so kind as to escort Mr. Sullivan to the tram?" Glynda let out an audible sigh, obviously not really wanting to do it, but knowing that she might as well get it over with.

"Mr Sullivan, if you would follow me." Glynda said curtly, and Nathan turned around and followed her, Dogmeat not far behind. After they left, the professors looked at the door where they had passed, and then to one another.

"I find it interesting that he is in fact from another world. I can imagine this all might be a little overwhelming to him." Oobleck said with a hand on his chin. Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, as he nodded.

"Interesting yes, but are you sure he's fitted to be a professor here? I mean, we don't even know if he's ever taught anything before." Port said, addressing Ozpin. Peach nodded, mirroring Port's concern.

"Lets just say I have a good feeling about him." Ozpin answered with a smirk, before once again taking a sip from his coffee.

* * *

Nathan arrived with Glynda at the small tram station at the edge of the academy that led to Vale, which he could see was about twenty miles out. Dogmeat began sniffing around the tram itself, already inside. It was on a rail that swerved down a steep hill heading toward the city. The tram itself was quite sizable, able to fit maybe a hundred people if they all squeezed. The style of the tram was quite blocky, with a few TV screens inside. There was also a locked box at the front of the tram. Glynda steppe into the tram, took out a key and unlocked the box, revealing a control panel.

"At the moment the Tram is allowing manual control. We typically have it on a schedule when school time comes, but when the students leave, we like to be able to use it when we need it." Glynda explained, and Nathan nodded. Dogmeat hopped onto one of the seats that lined the tram, apparently knowing they were going to stay there for a moment. Nathan approached the control panel, and found it was pretty basic. A small button for power, a lever for the speed, a brake lever, and one more button for actually taking off. Nathan figured since there were only two destinations, the controls didn't need to be complicated.

"Simple enough." Nathan said, looking over the controls, and for the first time he realized that everything was labeled in English. Something he was grateful for.

"Once you get to Vale, do try to stay out of trouble." Glynda said, and Nathan looked at her oddly.

"We've only known each other for...what? A day?" Nathan questioned. "Why do you think I'll get into trouble?" At that last statement, Glynda narrowed her eyes.

"Because right now your staying here at the academy, meaning if you get into trouble with the authorities, we'll be the ones they call. Plus your fully armored, only a few hunters wear any kind of armor, so your bound to get a few stares. And finally, I don't know you, so I don't trust you to behave yourself." After Glynda's small rant, Nathan stood in stunned silence for a moment, unsure of why she seemed so upset with him.

"Alright then, I can tell you get along with everyone don't you?" Nathan remarked smartly, and received a nasty glare for it. _I think I made her mad._ Nathan thought to himself.

"Try to be back before dinner." Glynda said with venom. "Ozpin still wants to discuss things with you." After which, she left Nathan and Dogmeat to themselves. Nathan watched her leave, and couldn't help himself from eyeing her backside for a moment or two. Eventually he turned toward the control panel, turned the tram on, and was soon on his way to Vale. He sat down on the connected seat next to Dogmeat, with the Shepard scooting a bit closer to him. Nathan put a hand on Dogmeat's head and gently petted him.

The tram ride was rather peaceful, and a nice change of pace from the flow of new information and questions he had been assaulted with since arriving here. Nathan looked down at Dogmeat and sighed. _I just hope everyone is doing okay while I'm gone. I'm sure they are, but I wonder how long it will be until they figure out I'm missing?_ Nathan thought as he sat there. He barely noticed the scenery move around them as he sat there, lost in his thoughts, mostly plagued by questions about this new world. Or the fact this world existed in the first place. At first Nathan thought he had somehow time traveled thousands of years into the future, which had at first been a very terrifying but also very exciting prospect. He realized that it was not the case when he saw the moon while in the dorm. Or what was left of it.

Nathan shook his head, remembering how he had stared at the moon for far too long once he first saw it. Dogmeat stirred a bit as the tram finally stopped, signaling his arrival to Vale. He stepped off the tram and breathed a sigh of relief. The town, for all intents and purposes was still relatively normal looking. He didn't know what to expect considering he was on a completely different world, but he was glad it at least looked familiar. He walked forward and onto the first street in front of the tram, and saw quite a few people on the sidewalks as well. They all had normal looking clothes, walked normally, and just like Ozpin and the others, spoke english. The signs all directed people to different businesses and establishments, all offering different services. Tailors, bookstores, restaurants, and everyone seemed to be having a relatively good day. The last time Nathan had seen a scene like this was before the bombs fell, an eternity ago. Dogmeat nudged his hand with his nose, and Nathan realized he had stopped, simply observing.

"Oh, sorry boy. I guess I was daydreaming a bit." Nathan said apologetically. Dogmeat ruffed softly, and they both continued onward, Nathan enjoying the sights. Which didn't last long. Two younger girls, most likely high school age, came up to him out of nowhere with eager and excited faces. For a second Nathan had a flashback to a raider that had a similar expression.

"Hey, can we take a picture with you and your dog?" One of them asked, holding an small tablet like device In her hands.

"Please?" The other one insisted. They both looked as though they would burst with excitement at any moment. Nathan decided to answer before they fainted or something.

"Uh, sure?" He said tentatively, and both girls squealed in excitement. They both ran up next to him and Dogmeat, and held the device out in front of them. "What-" he was cut off by the sound of multiple pictures being taken, and he saw that the device now sported an image of him, Dogmeat, and the girls. "Oh."

"Thanks mister!" One of them said with excitement. "My friends are going to be so jealous when they find out I met an armored huntsman today!" Suddenly everything made sense to Nathan. _So, are huntsman celebrities or something?_ He thought curiously.

"Oh yea, they'll never believe we found a huntsman that wears armor unless we told them." The other said. Before Nate knew it, they both left, leaving him and Dogmeat on the sidewalk. Nathan looked around, and saw only few of the townspeople were even giving him passing glances. _Ok, so not overtly famous celebrities, maybe its just because I'm wearing armor? Yea that has to be it. Still a pretty extreme reaction to...armor._ Nathan shook his head of those thoughts, saving them for later. He continued down the street with no real goal in mind. _If I had some of whatever kind of currency they used around here, I might have bought something. Right now though, I just need to listen and observe, so I can at least have some general knowledge of this place in case I'm asked. Better not advertise the fact I'm not exactly from around here._

As Nathan looked, he saw a few things out of place. For one, there was some kind of showcase of 'Atlesian Military hardware' which showcased robots that looked similar to assultrons, but bigger and slower looking. _Is atlas some kind of military contractor, or an ally of Vale? Why wouldn't Vale's military be advertised?_ Nathan thought, his mind going back to America's military advertisements. He remembered that recruitment advertising went up significantly when power armor was invented, which worked great, as many new recruits thought they could be, or at least work with, power armored soldiers. Of course these same advertisements never made it beyond the American borders. _So why would Atlas advertise in Vale?_ He did know that American military contractors would out source their products, such as the common combat rifle, but they would rarely try to advertise to the general population of another country.

Another thing he thought was quite out of place were two younger individuals, one man, and one woman, sharing what looked like a milkshake. Normally this would be nothing interesting, if it wasn't for the fact that the girl had large ears on her head, while the man had both ears, and what looked like deer antlers. They both had light tan hair as well, similar to a deer's coat. Nathan couldn't help but stare dumbly at the two as they enjoyed their milkshake. He was silently thankful no one really noticed, or seemed to care. Although the relatively tranquil scene didn't last long.

"Well well well, looks like ol' buck found himself a doe." Another young man came up from behind the man with the antlers, with two others by his side. They were all normal humans, but had baggy clothing, and the one that addressed 'buck' had an odd looking large baseball cap on his head, wearing it backwards.

"I told you my name isn't buck." The boy said without looking behind him, and the girl deer person looked worried as the three continued to approach. Nathan wasn't sure what was going on, but it didn't look good.

"Its alright, they'll leave soon enough, just let me do the talking." The deer faunas said quietly to his date, who nodded reluctantly. Then the three made it to their table, the center capped one smirking smugly.

"Oh yea, I guess I keep forgetting. What was it again?" The same hatted one asked, clearly in a mockingly innocent tone. His two followers chuckled at his act, while the deer faunas ground his teeth a bit in anger.

"Trevor." Trevor said with venom. The girl deer faunas shrunk a bit as the lead one's gaze feel to her. While Trevor realized he would need to do something. _Damn it, Logan's going to ruin my date at this rate. But how do I get him to leave this time?_ Trevor thought desperately.

"And what would your name be?" Logan said with mock interest. The Girl shrunk even further into her chair. She said something barely audible. "Whats that? Couldn't quite hear that." He asked again, and the girl spoke a bit louder, but with fear and embarrassment evident in her whimper. "Was that Delilah? Deborah? Oh well, maybe I should just call you a bi-"

"Hey!" Trevor said, raising his voice and standing up, catching everyone at the table's attention. "Stop it Logan, you've already done enough haven't you?" Trevor asked in a threatening tone, to which Logan responded by scowling at him. Logan then forcefully grabbed Trevor's right set of antlers, causing the faunas to be forced toward Logan with a bit of pain.

"C'mon Trevor, we're all just having a bit of fun right? After all, you wouldn't want me to report your antlers were as pointy as a spear do you?" At that, Trevor's eyes widened. It was true, he had been neglecting to file down his antler's points. That was one of the laws concerning faunas. If they had pointed extremities like horns, antlers, or enlarged teeth, they needed to be kept dull for public safety. Unfortunately Trevor's antlers were a bit too sharp to comply with that rule, meaning he could face a hefty fine. Then they all heard an adult sounding cough behind the troublemaking trio. They all turned to see what looked like an armored huntsman and his Dog looking at them with his arms crossed. Logan, instead of looking scared or worried, actually looked sadistically excited.

"Would you mind explaining whats going on here." the huntsman asked, and Trevor looked devastated, as Logan let go of him and approached the huntsman with confidence. The girl also looked worried as she watched the two of them, hoping Trevor doesn't get too bad of a fine. Although that was unlikely.

"I would be more than happy too." Logan said with mock innocence. "You see, I was just walking down the street when I noticed that this faunas's antlers are sharper that what regulation requires. I asked him to file it down before the authorities arrives, but I guess I'm too late now that you're here sir." Trevor slumped his shoulder, submitting himself to whatever would come. The other two lackeys snickered a bit watching Logan give his 'statement.'

"Really now?" The huntsman asked, before he started to walk over to the deer faunas. "Well then lets see what we have." Logan and his friends smiled victoriously as the huntsman stood in front of Trevor.

Nathan didn't know half of what was going on, but he did get the general gist. These poor kids were being bullied, and worst of all, they didn't seem any more comforted by the fact an authority figure had showed up. _The fact they think I'm a huntsman sure is convenient. Better make good use of it. Still seems wrong that this kid has to file his...antlers? This is still so weird._ Nathan thought to himself. He gently gripped the deer man's antlers and felt one of the ends. It was indeed, quite sharp. Nathan mused on what to say for a moment, before he let go the antlers and looked at the boy through his helmet.

"Well, I'm going to assume this is your first offense, so I'm gonna let you off with a warning." Nathan said, making the people around him look at him in surprise. "But don't let me catch you like this again." _Given how these kids probably thought I would have issued some kind of punishment for a crime this small, I better sell the act good._ Nathan mused, looking at the kid's expression. The kid that had 'told' on the deer kid approached Nathan with a bit of a angered glare.

"A warning? Since when did they start putting out warnings? Aren't you going to fine him?" The boy asked with annoyance. Nathan shook his head.

"No, especially when I see the accuser manhandling the accused." Nathan asserted, causing the boy to flinch back a bit. The two deer people looked pleasantly surprised at this as the normal guys ushered themselves away, leaving the three of them and Dogmeat. Nathan wanted to sigh in relief upon convincing them that he was a real huntsman, but reminded himself not to give his cover away. He looked back at the two deerlings, and nodded. "You two have a nice day." Then he and Dogmeat began to leave back the way they came.

"T-Thank you." The boy said, but Nathan simply kept walking, his thoughts being plagued with just what the hell those people were.

* * *

"I told him not to get into trouble." Glynda hissed a bit as she and Ozpin watched the video screen of Nathan leaving the two faunas after having dealt with their harassers. Ozpin simply shook his head in amusement.

"I would say that he's actually preventing trouble from starting." Ozpin said with a smile, while Glynda rolled her eyes. "I think this proves his heart. Even though he undoubtedly doesn't know what a faunas was, he barley batted an eye."

"Yes, because staring at two teen faunas on a date for nearly a minute straight isn't batting an eye." Glynda's retort caused Ozpin to chuckle. "I don't think this is funny. How can you trust hims so easily as to offer him a position at the school?" She continued incredulously.

"Well first of all, we're understaffed and need some more adults on campus." Ozpin began. "Secondly, I don't think it would be wise o let him stay in remnant unsupervised. Who knows what kind of trouble he could cause." Ozpin gave Glynda a wink, but she did not return it.

"So we get him an apartment in the city and check up on him, I don't trust him enough yet for him to be around our students." Glynda retorted.

"I don't think you've known him long enough to know just how much he can be trusted." Ozpin paused, glancing over to the monitor and watching as cameras throughout the city tracked both Nathan and his dog. They seemed more curious about their surrounding than anything, if not a bit cautious. "Perhaps it is a bit presumptuous to assume his trustworthiness, but like I said before, I have a good feeling about him." Ozpin continued to watch the duo walk throughout the city, while Glynda sighed.

Glynda wasn't entirely sure what was going through Ozpin's mind by attempting to recruit Nathan, but he did have a point a bout being understaffed. And they did have a month before school actually started. _Perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh._ She thought to herself. _Even if we don't know him, he hasn't really been hostile or unpleasant...aside from his language that is. Perhaps I should give him a chance._ As she thought that, she looked on the monitor with Ozpin to see Nathan attempting to help an old lady with what was far too many grocery bags, only for him to be hit int the head with a cane.

* * *

"Jeez, I was only trying to help." Nathan said to no one as he walked down the docks of Vale. "She didn't have to go all 'Don't you try to help me young whippersnapper, I can help myself!'" Nathan said in a 'grandma' voice, and Dogmeat yawned, completely not understanding his master. "Well, It happens every once and a while right?" Nathan asked looking down at Dogmeat, who simply tilted his head as they walked. Nathan smirked to himself, seeing how ridiculous it might seem to talk to a dog. The Docks of Vale were remarkably similar to Boston's docks when he visited before the great war. Ships in port, sailors tying rigging or cleaning the deck, and what appeared to be captains looking at documents. The place was quite lively, and made him feel a bit nostalgic.

"What do you think of this place so far Dogmeat? Anything like Boston?" Nathan asked rhetorically. Dogmeat barked cheerily as Nathan chuckled a bit. "Yea, its a bit like Boston isn't it? Wonder if they have radio." Nathan brought the Pipboy on his left wrist up to his face to view what radio stations were available in Vale. Turns out there were quite a few radio stations available. As he selected one though, an angry sounding metallic instrument assaulted his ears, and he immediately shut it off. "Maybe I'll try again later."

Nathan and Dogmeat continued down the dockyard, and Nathan couldn't help but wonder what exactly he could do. Obviously he needed to find the materials required for a teleporter, but he also needed somewhere relatively safe and private to build and keep it. _Ozpin did offer me a job at his academy, but would I be too busy with being a teacher? No...I wouldn't._ Nathan suddenly remembered something quite important. It would be nearly a month before any students arrive, but he had managed to build a fully functioning teleporter in nearly a week. _I would have plenty of time to put one together, and leave before anyone but those at the school even knew I was ever here. Perfect!_

"Alright Dogmeat, I have a plan." Nathan said, stopping, and Dogmeat looked at him with attentiveness. "Lets try working for Ozpin, I think we can find our way back home before the school year starts." Dogmeat panted, still waiting for an order, before Nathan's stomach started to rumble. "Maybe we can stop for some lunch first. How's some radstag sound?"

Nathan and Dogmeat both waited on the tram as it took them both back up to the academy. It was approaching evening, and Nathan didn't really want to be late for dinner considering he was asked to be there. Once the tram stopped, and allowed them to hop off, they were once again in front of the academy. They both started to make their way toward the central building to hopefully find where exactly to head. Thankfully it didn't take them long to find the separate eating area specifically for the teachers during meals. It wasn't too far from the normal cafeteria, but was clearly labeled fro teachers only. Inside it had a large circular clothed table where Nathan saw the rest of the teachers at. Ozpin perked up at him coming in, and nodded.

"Hello Nathan, I trust your visit to Vale was enjoyable?" Ozpin asked as Nathan approached the table. Glynda was on Ozpin's right, while Port was on his left, With peach being next to Glynda. Nathan noticed that there was no food or plates on the table, suggesting they hadn't even gotten to eat yet.

"Enjoyable enough, reminds me a lot of Boston actually." Nathan answered honestly.

"Thats good, if you'd like, you can have a seat, professor Oobleck will be back with our food momentarily." Nathan nodded, and took one of the the only two available seats, specifically next to Port.

"So Boston is a port town?" Port asked curiously, and Nathan nodded, any expression still hidden behind his helmet. Dogmeat laid down beside Nathan's chair, but kept his ears perked up.

"Yea, one of the busiest in the country actually." Nathan elaborated a bit. "I'm guessing Vale's pretty busy on that front too?" At his question, the grey haired professor laughed a bit.

"Oh yes, Vale gets plenty of imports, and exports quite a lot too. Vale's most valuable recourse is it's geography though. So we see a lot of people wanting to move here." Port explained, which piqued Nathan's curiosity.

"Really? Is the geography really that scenic?" Nathan asked and Port laughed a bit.

"Not it's scenery boy! It's safety! We're practically surrounded on all sides by mountains with the exception of the coast. Vale is perhaps one of the safest places to live, since the Grimm rarely come around Vale's area." Nathan nodded, although he only partially understood as he still was unfamiliar with the Grimm.

"Perhaps it would be better if he knew a bit more about the Grimm." Ozpin said politely to Port, who raised his eyebrow, before he suddenly realized what the headmaster meant.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot you weren't exactly from here are you? Well, while the Grimm's true nature is a mystery, there is a lot we do know." Port began, and Nathan paid his full attention to the professor, knowing he would need to know as much as possible while in this unfamiliar world. "Grimm are much more hostile and deadlier versions of normal animals." Nathan briefly had flashbacks to the radioactive wildlife of the commonwealth, but considering these people knew what 'normal animals' were, it was highly doubtful these Grimm were even remotely similar. "They are attracted and drawn in by negative emotions, meaning that negative emotions often have deadly reproductions. Thankfully Grimm are not invincible, and brave hunters and huntresses have been fighting these monsters for centuries." Nathan had gotten far more from that explanation that Port probably thought he did. Before any other words could be exchanged, another door in the room opened to reveal Oobleck with a large tray of various dishes, and separate plate for people to load their fill onto. It was all fixed like it was a family gathering rather than a gathering of coworkers.

"Ah! I see our newest guest has arrived, and I overheard Port discussing Grimm. Well there is much more to Grimm than that, as complicated as it might seem to someone not from remnant. Port is the resident professor of Grimm studies, however If you eve need or want to know more about remnant in general, I believe a good history lesson would benefit you greatly." Oobleck said very quickly, so quick, Nathan almost didn't catch most of what he said.

"I see." Nathan said slowly, a bit unsure of how to respond. "And would you be th-"

"Indeed! I am the history teacher! If you ever require my services or advice, do not be afraid to ask." Oobleck said quickly, but also in a polite manner, suggesting that he was indeed genuine, despite sounding like a raving lunatic. Ozpin began to fix his plate, as well as everyone else, while Nathan looked at the collected dishes, wondering what he should try first.

"Are you going to eat Nathan?" Ozpin asked respectfully, to which Nathan nodded. The sole survivor also began fixing his plate, recognizing many of the foodstuffs on the table. Between a roasted pork sirloin, black eyed peas, green beans, mashed potatoes, and warm croissants, Nathan was sure he had made it back to modern America. "I do hope you don't intent to eat with the gas mask on." Ozpin said with some amusement in his voice, and Nathan chuckled.

"Yea, I guess that could get in the way." Nathan said, before finishing his plate, and reaching up to the helmet straps. Once he unclasped them, he removed the helmet to reveal his face. Nathan was a rugged, but also handsome looking man with slick, jet black hair, and a short beard. "Nice to breath a bit better again." Nathan said, before he and the rest of the teachers dug into the food. In all honesty Nathan wasn't sure he had ever tasted food this good, at least not since he last visited the cabot house, where he often got fresh, somehow non-irradiated food. Nevertheless, it once again evoked a feeling of nostalgia in him, remembering when America wasn't a nuclear hell-scape.

"So Nathan, what have you thought of my proposal." Ozpin asked, with Glynda briefly eyeing both of them. Nathan stayed quite for a moment, allowing himself to soak in the still fresh scent of the food. He was silent for a few moments, before he responded.

"I agree." Nathan said, causing Glynda's eyes to narrow. "But I would ask for a few things, if you don't mind." Ozpin nodded, signaling him to go on. "I'll need some kind of workshop, somewhere big enough for me to work on hopefully finding a way home. Plus I'll need plenty of material. I don't need anything fancy really, just some steel and aluminum from a junkyard, plus some circuit boards I can work with. I'm good at improvising." Nathan said, making te teachers look at him oddly, before Ozpin chuckled.

"Well, If your able to craft quality weapons from junkyard materials, the I would say your certainly more than qualified to teach a shop class. As far as the workshop and everything goes, there is a small warehouse where we used to teach shop regularly. Its right next to the lockers, and should be plenty of space for you to work." Ozpin said, and Nathan nodded, a small smile on his face.

"And I do appreciate you allowing me to stay here Ozpin, not sure what I would do if I was just left to wander." Nathan said in thanks, and Ozpin nodded.

"Of course, and tomorrow we can begin your training, as well as discuss everything that is required of you as a professor at beacon." Ozpin explained plainly, and Nathan paused. "You may be wondering what kind of training I'm talking about...well, this is an academy for hunters and huntresses, we can't very well have a professor that is not one as well." Nathan gulped, as he could tell from the teachers expressions that they were going to enjoy 'training him'.

* * *

 **Authors notes**

 **Discord:** /uDxVym8

 **Sorry! I know its been a long time, but I've been sicker than a dog, and I've only recently started on some antibiotics. I feel better, but not a hundred percent. The next chapter I do will be blades, and I'm going to try to make it extra long.**

 **So the polling is threw! I won't be making a new story for a while it looks like, but once I'm threw with whatever story. (probably blades) Since it was in second place in terms of voting, I'll be making the Overlord X Avengers crossover. But like I said, it won't be coming out anytime soon. Anyways I think thats all for me for now, but I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and if I don't update again before Christmas...**

 **Merry Christmas!**


	3. Chapter 3- Getting a Hold of the ropes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout or RWBY**

 **Getting a hold of the ropes.**

"So this aura stuff is a part of my soul?" Nathan asked curiously, seeing a light blue veil shrouding over him, before dissipating completely. "I thought my body was supposed to protect my soul, not the other way around." Glynda rose an eyebrow at him before nodding. She had just finished unlocking his aura, and it was his first reaction to it being there. She walked away, towards the other end of the arena they were currently in. it was typically used during the school year for sparring matches, as was expected of Glynda's combat class, but at the moment, she could use it to help Nathan get used to his aura.

"Yes, I suppose your first reaction would be that, but trust me, you'll need your aura to survive any longer here." Glynda said matter-of-factly, and Nathan felt a little offended. He survived so far and through far worse. Then again, he was in his power armor when he faced those Grimm. Nevertheless he was sure he could survive without an aura. "Now, your aura felt rather tough, so why don't we start with a sparring match?" At this, Nathan tilted his head.

"A spar? Already?" Nathan asked incredulously. "Is that necessary?" Glynda reached the other end of the arena and nodded while looking at him.

"Yes, the best way to test just how potent your aura is would be to put it under the stress of combat." Nathan shook his head. _I guess it makes sense, but just how effective is my aura supposed to be?_ Nathan asked himself as a large screen lit up on the wall to his left, above his head, revealing a picture of him, and another of Glynda's. They both had a blue bar underneath it against the cyan background he's come to associate with this world's technology. Then something that Glynda said earlier came back to him.

"Hey, you said that my aura felt tough or something right? What does that mean?" Nathan asked as Glynda extended her riding crop. She gave it a couple of swings before returning her attention to Nathan.

"Some people's auras can have slightly different characteristics than others. For example, I felt that yours is denser, and will probably be able to absorb damage more effectively than someone with an average aura." Glynda explained, and Nathan nodded in understanding as he rolled his shoulders, his assault combat armor rolling with them.

"So an 'aura' is basically like a muscle?" Nathan asked, and Glynda nodded.

"More or less. While I may have a normal aura, I've had it and used it for so long, it is much tougher, larger, and more powerful than most others. As time goes on, your aura will also grow in power and size, but it will take time." Nathan once again nodded, and then brought his Pipboy up, and retrieved a weapon that was atomized inside of it. The Heavily modified assault rifle dropped into his hands, and he inspected it quickly. Determining that it was in the same condition as before, he looked to Glynda, his mask hiding his expression.

"I'm ready when you are." Glynda nodded, and pointed her riding crop at him as if it were a rapier. Nathan wondered what she was going to do with that. In fact for all of these professors being hunters and huntresses, he only remembered Port mentioning he had a blunderbuss of some kind.

"Begin!" Glynda said loudly, and before Nathan could even ask what exactly he was supposed to do, he felt himself being lifted off the ground. A light golden aura surrounded his body, before he was thrown into the wall of the area, a heavy thud sounding out. Although, it didn't really hurt as much as it should have. _Guess this aura really does protect me_. Nathan though as he got up.

"Was that some sort of advanced Aura technique or something?" Nathan asked as he looked up to the screen to see his aura had taken a considerable dip. Nearly twenty percent had been taken off. "Or was that the pure unadulterated power of your riding crop?" Glynda chose to ignore the sarcasm.

"That was my semblance. A semblance is another manifestation of one's soul that is completely unique to an individual. Mine is telekinesis." Nathan suddenly had the indication that this spar wasn't going to end his way. He brought up his rifle, and quickly fired a few shots, but Glynda used her telekinetic semblance to toss them all off to the side. She picked him up again, but as he was in the air, Nathan steadied his aim and fired four times, with one shot hitting her in the shoulder. A golden veil surrounded her body for a brief second before dissipating, and Nathan saw that she winced at the shot. Then he was hurled toward the other end of the arena, his aura once again taking the brunt of the force, allowing him to get up rather easily. He aimed and fired again, only for Glynda to toss the bullets aside before they got too close. "Wait. Are you using lead bullets?" Glynda asked, looking over at the small bullets which had landed on the floor on the other side of the room.

"What other kind are there?" Nathan asked as he once again aimed, only for his gun to be thrown from his hands, and toward Glynda. "Hey!" Then he too was thrown to the side, to where he was first thrown.

"Lead bullets are highly ineffective against larger Grimm. Honestly I'm surprised that you killed those Beowolves and Ursa when you first arrived." Nathan simply shrugged as he got up again.

"Admittedly, most of the Grimm I killed was by using my armor. I was surprised by how many shots it took to take them down." Glynda nodded as she stared him down.

"Yes, please remember to remind one of us to go shopping with you for a few things some time." Nathan then whipped out the deliverer which had been sitting on his right hip, and fired rapidly. Glynda pushed away each one, but Nathan was walking forward while doing so. Once he was out, he made a dive for his assault rifle, and Glynda began to toss him up again. Nathan let loose a volley towards Glynda, with her aura sparking four times before he hit the back wall. As he did, a one tone alarm went off, and he looked up to see his blue bar on the screen was now red. Then he looked towards Glynda's to see it was still blue, but was down by nearly a quarter. "I must admit." Glynda said as she walked over to him. "I didn't expect you to do so well." Nathan seemed to scoff.

"Did well? What are you talking about? I only brought you down a quarter!" Nathan said with a bit of dejection and frustration. The only other time he felt he was doing so little was the first time he fought a super human behemoth. Glynda raised her eyebrow, but sighed with a bit of tiredness.

"You just had your aura awakened, you don't have your semblance, and you haven't had any aura training. So considering you were facing a trained huntress with years of experience, with all of that previously in mind, you did rather well. That rifle of yours packs a punch." Glynda said with a bit of admiration while looking at the rifle. Nathan paused, and took all of the contextual information in. "Although on that note, I suggest that when you get your dust rounds, you use them instead of your lead rounds. Dust ammunition is far more effective at dealing with Grimm."

"Huh, well thanks I guess." Nathan said, sill a bit unsure. If these students had auras as well, and have had them for longer...He needed to step up a little bit. Then again, he hopefully wouldn't be here for too much longer. "This here rifle has been with me for a long time, and I was a bit nervous to use it on you, but since your still standing, this aura stuff sure is the real deal." Glynda nodded as she looked him over.

"Most people would feel exhausted after getting their aura beat on so much, but you seem fine." Nathan chuckled as he re-atomized his rifle back into the Pipboy.

"Well, I'm used to being exhausted, besides, I've been told I'm pretty tough."

* * *

Ozpin walked with Nathan toward where the old workshop was located, as Dogmeat walked in front of them. Currently they were headed towards where Nathan would be working from now on, the shop class. Nathan was still hopeful he could get the teleporter build in as little amount of time as possible. He would need to make it bigger in order to accommodate Dogmeat, but that was a small issue. The real problem was going to be figuring out how to connect to the teleporter at the institute.

"So how did your awakening go with Glynda? She told me you did well in your spar." Ozpin commented as he and Nathan continued to walk down the rather empty hallways.

"Pretty well, and I would have felt bad if I hadn't at least done some damage. I've been fighting things and people for a long time." Ozpin looked over to the man, and while the helmet hid his face, the professor could tell there was more to that statement than the man let on. Eventually they came to a door at the end of a hallway marked 'Shop' and entered it. Inside were many tables with what appeared to be basic hand tools along with a few power tools set up in a corner of the room.

"This is the forge, where students can come to clean and maintain their weapons with the tools provided by the academy. It used to be that we would do a quick round in here after classes were over to make sure all the tools were put up, but now that responsibility falls to you." Ozpin said matter of factly as he approached a wooden table at the front of the room, next to the corner where the power tools were. "And this is your new desk." Nathan looked at the desk, and noted the amount of scratches and cuts that were on the thing. He looked to Ozpin. "I know, we need to get an actually new desk, but for now, I hope this will be sufficient." Nathan shrugged.

"Looks fine, I guess I just keep my paperwork and stuff in there?" Ozpin nodded at Nathan's question.

"Along with anything else you believe is necessary to be there." Nathan then looked over to see another door that was on the side of the room. "That is your personal shop." This piqued Nathan's interest.

"Personal Shop?" Ozpin nodded. Nathan approached the door, but realized that Dogmeat wasn't with them. Quickly he looked around, and saw the Shepard sniffing each of the work tables. Then he looked back to the door, and opened it. Inside was a large open space with multiple work tables on the edges of the room. He recognized many of them, seeing an ammo loading device on one of the tables, but it looked a bit different than the ones he was familiar with. He could use many of the tools in here to work on both his armor and weapons. The only thing that wasn't there was a power armor stand. "Wow, pretty well equipped isn't it?" Nathan stepped over to a rotary saw that had clearly not been used in some time given the dust on it and the slightly rusty brand new blade it had.

"Well, it hasn't been used in years, as well as most of the equipment in here." Ozpin said, and Nathan ran his hand along the work table, gathering dust as he did so, and leaving a single clean streak on it's surface. "You can use the space and tools within for whatever you need, this is your personal workshop after all. If you need resources, I may be able to help in that regard." Nathan hummed as he thought. There were so many new things being thrust upon him, it was a bit overwhelming.

"For now, I think I just want to go over a few things in my head, and maybe lean a bit more about uh...Remnant? Is that what you call the planet?" Ozpin nodded, an amused expression on his face as he sipped his coffee. "Yea, and while I'm on the topic...Is it normal for people to have animal parts coming out of their head?" Ozpin paused, and lowered his coffee, as he thought best how to explain what faunas were to someone who probably had no experience with sentient being that weren't human.

"Well, yes, and no, they are called Faunus. They are like humans, but have animal like traits, such as different ears, an additional tail, antlers, and so on." Ozpin said as he began to explained exactly what Faunas were to Nathan. They left the workshop and began heading for lunch in the Teacher's eating area. Dogmeat was following closely behind them.

"Really? Huh, so are they like... Demi-humans or something?" Nathan asked, and Ozpin sighed.

"That is something that has garnered a lot of debate. But in my experience, Faunas are no different than humans, and they deserve to be treated as such. Unfortunately, there are many that do not agree, and have inadvertently created Faunas that hate humans as much as those humans hate faunas. An organization called the white fang sprang up, and eventually turned into a terrorist organization, claiming to fight for Faunas rights." Ozpin explained, and made Nathan's eyes widen under his helmet.

"Really? Huh, I've heard of, and experienced this kind of situation before, although it was a bit different. Especially with the kind of non-humans I've met."

"How so?" Ozpin asked, and Nathan tapped his chin, thinking of the best way to explain.

"Well, there were some former humans called Ghouls and Super mutants that are were often uh... despised by the residents of where I came from. They looked extremely different from normal humans though. I honestly shared their sentiments, until I got to know them, and found they were no different from any of the normal humans. Although I can't really think of a group that resembles the white fang." Nathan commented, wanting to know a bit more about the group.

"Yes, the white fang is quite a sad state of affairs, as they were not always like this. They were originally a faunas rights activist group, but eventually turned to the darker side of activism when they thought they weren't going anywhere. Many left the group after that, but even more joined the now extremist group." Ozpin said with a bit of sadness, and Nathan could see why, The professor seemed like a caring person, and seeing an organization like that falling to hatred must be quite the thing. "So, what were these Ghouls and Super mutants like?"

"The super mutants kill almost everything in site, and feral Ghouls do the same, but aren't as intelligent as the mutants... although that's not saying much." Ozpin turned to him with an odd look. "I'm not saying people's fears were necessarily unfounded, but non-feral ghouls are no more violent than normal people. As far as super mutants go... I've met two that haven't tried to kill me so far." Ozpin continued to give Nathan an odd look, but did not question further. Soon enough they reached the lunch room, and saw that every other professor was already there and eating within the plain room.

"Ozpin, Nathan, grab a plate!" Professor Port said gleefully as he dug into a plate of food that appeared to be leftovers from last night. "We just started." At his gesture, the two did so, and grabbed two plates of already heated food, clearly a sign that they were expecting them.

"Glynda told us about your awakening Nathan." Oobleck began. "There aren't many that can bring Glynda's aura down that quickly, I'm impressed." Nathan removed his helmet and smiled sheepishly. Before he could respond, Dogmeat barked softly, indicating he wanted something too. So Nathan got up and headed toward the cabinets that lined the wall.

"You guys wouldn't happen to have any dog food, or anything like that do you?" Nathan asked as he opened a bottom cabinet to find some pots and pans.

"Theres some meat in the fridge there." Peach said, Nathan almost not hearing her soft voice. He nodded his thanks before looking inside the fridge.

"Yea, well, its a good thing I wear armor, because if that aura is meant to protect me, it won't last long in a fight." Nathan commented as he grabbed a pork-chop that was in an individual plastic bag, fished it out, and threw it to Dogmeat, who caught it mid-air. "But I think I'll be okay."

"Well, your aura was just awakened, it will take some time for it to last longer in battle." Ozpin said, before he took another sip of his seemingly never-ending cup of coffee.

"Oh and Glynda said something about my aura being-" Nathan began again, before Glynda spoke.

"Tougher." Glynda interjected. "It means whatever physical attacks you take, you won't feel them yourself as badly, it doesn't mean your aura can necessarily take more punishment... as counterintuitive as that may seem." Nathan sat down again, and pondered that as he began to eat his food.

"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to train with your aura before you get into any real trouble." Port said confidently, and everyone paused to look at him. "What?"

"Whats the old saying?" Nathan asked to no one in particular. "Oh right, 'don't jinx yourself' or 'don't count your chickens before they hatch.'" Port laughed, before waving Nathan's comment off.

"Nonsense, we'll be fine. However if anything does happen, I'm sure me or Glynda, or Oobleck can take care of it." Port reassured, and Glynda actually nodded in agreement.

"While I wouldn't say its guaranteed, yes we should be able to handle anything that comes up until classes start." Glynda said, as she took a bite from her own plate of her food. After that, the professors and the sole survivor all ate while occasionally engaging in small talk. Nathan himself thought that his stay here had been just as pleasant as if he were back in pre-war America. Although this place didn't really have much of a homey feeling to it. At least not yet. Nathan hoped that he never does acquire a homey feeling for this place either. While the people are nice, and the world seemed better off than earth, he couldn't stay here.

* * *

 **(One week Later)**

Nathan's Aura training had been going well, if not insufferably slow for the sole survivor. He had made a five percent increase in his total aura performance, which was a fancy way of saying his average aura strength based off of his aura's multiple variables. During this time, he had moved his power armor into his personal shop, and began construction on a teleporter. Thanks to the designs he had saved on his Pipboy, it was really only a matter of gathering the materials. Thanks to Ozpin pointing him to a junk yard, this was also quite easy. A lot of his time had been taken up from constructing his teleporter so he could fix up the shop, and prepare for the classes that were supposed to start in a few weeks. There was one other thing that he needed to do, which he had admittedly been neglecting.

"You still haven't gone to get dust rounds? Or dust in general?" Oobleck asked a bit incredulously as he and the sole survivor went over Remnant's history so the non-native to the planet would be able to understand a few basic terms and subjects.

"W-Well, yea, I just don't really know what I'm supposed to get, y'know? I know there are different types of dust, but which one would be best exactly?" Nathan questioned, and Oobleck hummed.

"That really depends on what you want to do, but when it comes to offensive capabilities, electric and fire dust would work best. But ice and earth dust have great utilities if you want to slow or trip up your opponents." Nathan nodded at that, somewhat understanding. "Why don't I help you pick out some dust round after this? I've been meaning to go out to Vale anyway."

"Sounds good, so what was next?" Nathan asked himself as he looked into the book Oobleck had provided for him, and his face turned from a rather neutral expression to one of sadness and reminiscing. "The Great War huh? I know all about them."

* * *

"So, From Dust Till Dawn huh? Cheesy name." Nathan said to himself as he and Oobleck entered the store. The sun illuminated the inside of the store, revealing multiples shelves of various different vases and bottles, along with what appeared to be different contraptions that were made to be used with dust. Along the walls were a few long tall cylinders that almost reached to the ceiling filled with what Nathan figured was raw dust.

"Welcome! Welcome!" The shop owner greeted, and at this, Nathan realized they were the only ones there. "please, if theres anything you need help with, let me know!" Oobleck walked right up to the owner and made it fairly clear what he wanted.

"We require dust ammo for my friend here, who is sorely lacking in supply." Oobleck stated quickly, and the shop owner was a bit floundered by the sudden request. "Nathan what kind of caliber do you require?" Oobleck asked quickly, but Nathan was already ready with an answer. Thanks to the occasional impromptu classes he would have with the professor, he was used to his speed talking.

"50 cal, 45, 44, 10mil, and a bunch others, but I have a list." Nathan said, materializing a slip of paper from his Pipboy that he had made. Oobleck smiled, and then faced the shop owner again. The owner sighed as he stretched.

"A-Alright, lest see what I have." The store owner began to look on the computer monitor in front of him and began typing. Nathan still thought it was impressive that this world had computer screens that were so thin compared to the ones on earth, and they were able to do far more that his own. "Well, everything is still fully stocked, I think we should be able to get you any kind of ammo available." The shop owner said with confidence after reviewing his stock information.

"Excellent! What weapons do you see yourself using the most in the future Nathan?" The sole survivor hummed at this as he thought about which weapons he would use. He had at least one weapon for every kind of ammo he could carry. But he could tell Oobleck wasn't just asking for humors sake, this was going to be expensive, so if he could minimilize the damage, he probably should. If he wanted to consolidate, then he figured he could just two or three weapons for now.

"Wait... you use multiple weapons?" the shop owner asked, just now coming to that conclusion, as he looked at the armored man with curiosity.

"Yes, he does." Oobleck interjected. "Now Nathan, what kind of ammunition will you need?" Nathan brought up is Pipboy. Then he dug out the deliverer, his custom assault rifle, and his favorite shotgun, Le Fusil Terribles. The shotgun looked like a standard combat shotgun barring the large magazine and extended stock, but what made the shotgun stand out was the fact that it's receiver was much heavier, allowing for larger amounts of gunpowder to be put into each shell, but did increase the recoil. Overall though, Nathan had gotten used to it.

"Anything that can be put into these three right here." Nathan declared, and put the weapons on the table. The shop owner observed them for a second, before nodding and set to work gathering ammunition from behind the shelves. "Also, could I have some raw dust too? I'd like to do some experimenting with it in my workshop." Oobleck smiled at his request.

"I don't see why not, what kind of dust did you want?" Oobleck asked as Nathan looked throughout the store, noticing all the different colors of dust in the cylinders.

"How about a little bit of all of it?"

* * *

"Interesting." Nathan said to himself as he observed the lightning dust that was held within a small clear bottle. This was apparently the stuff they mostly used for all of their electronics and machinery, which to Nathan was both fascinating and infuriating. Remnant has basically had the ability to use electricity for who knows how long, and took full advantage of that given the level of technology they were at. Nevertheless Nathan could definitely be able to take advantage of it, either by making energy cells or maybe even making impromptu fusion cores.

"Imagining ways of using lightning dust?" Oobleck asked, and Nathan turned to him.

"How did you know?" Nathan asked looking over at the professor who was walking alongside the sole survivor as the two of them walked down the streets of Vale. Nathan had already stored the dust rounds and crystalized dust within his Pipboy, but had kept the lightning dust out.

"Ive seen it before, a look of thought and concentration. While I can't see your face, Ive seen it enough to know whats going through one's mind when the cogs in their mind are going." Oobleck responded, and Nathan could understand, he knew a few officers in the military that could tell what you were thinking or feeling just by a glance. It made Nathan more than a bit nervous at times back in those days.

"So where do you need to go?" Nathan asked curiously, and Oobleck smiled, a pleased look on his face.

"I need to go and pick up the last shipment of history books. These specifically are for the third year students."

"I would have thought any essential history books would already be in?" Nathan asked curiously.

"New copies. These books specifically focus on recent history, the last few decades or so. They get updated every two or three years." Oobleck stopped in front of what looked like a rather big book store right on the corner of the street they were on, and not far from Vale's docks. Oobleck opened the door and stepped in with Nathan following him. "I won't be long, they should already have all the books ready. All I need to do is sign the paper and make sure I can haul it out of here."

"Alright, I think I'm going to look at a few books, see what you guys call fiction around here." Oobleck chucked as Nathan made his way over to the fiction section of the library. The library as a whole was pretty much empty, with only a few others in there, but most of them were where the computers were. So the fiction aisles were free from anyone else, except for one black haired girl with a ribbon on her head, that was reading a book on a couch just outside of the aisle. He decided to observe the titles of the books, and began looking. _Lets see._ Nathan thought to himself. _The Hunters of Mistral, too generic. The Final Beowolf, eh, maybe. The True Detective of Vale, well, I do like my detective stories. The Untold stories of: The Ninjas of Love, too raunchy. The Knight of None, interesting, I'll try that one._ Nathan decided upon the last title, and took the book to the small reading area. He sat down on a recliner a few seats to the left from where the young woman was. He flipped to the first page and began reading. After a few moments though, he heard a small gasp to his right, and looked to see the girl with her face now buried in her book.

Blake was panicking, just a bit. She had thought she wouldn't have been bothered by anyone while she was here in the library, after all, most people that came in now just came for the computers. When she had heard someone sit down not too far from her she hadn't thought much of it, until she saw the man. Dressed almost completely in military-looking armor, which meant he could be atlas. Or maybe part of a specialized Vale force. Either way, he didn't look like someone she wanted to get to know.

Nathan decided to just read his book and more or less ignored the girl. As he flipped through the pages, he was thankful the other professors had taken some time to familiarize him with some basic concepts in remnant, such as dust, and some history of the four kingdoms. Otherwise there would have been a lot of things in here that he wouldn't have understood. He glanced up and realized he didn't have line of sight on where Oobleck had been, and figured he should probably get up. Even if he did want to read a bit more.

Blake watched as the armored man got up, put his book back where he had gotten it from, and leave. He wasn't even there five minutes, but Blake was still thankful the potential threat was gone. Although now she was curious as to who exactly that was, so she got up herself, and stealthily followed the man.

"Hey Oobleck, ready to go yet?" Nathan asked as he approached the quick-talking professor, who was currently looking inside a rather large wooden crate. The professor looked up and smiled as the armored man approached

"Why yes, I believe everything is in order, we should be able to head out now if your ready." Oobleck said, and Nathan nodded, wanting to experiment with some of the dust he had acquired. "Well then, we're off to Beacon." Oobleck said as he used a dolly to lift the box and began to wheel it outside. Nathan followed him shortly afterward. As they left though, a particular girl was watching from an aisle.

Blake had half the nerve to facepalm. She had gotten worked up, worrying about some armored guy potentially being after her, when he was just a professor from Beacon. At least thats what she figured. She walked back down to where she was sitting before, preparing to once again continue reading. _Now, whats the fifth chapter going to be like? Theres supposed to be a new ninja coming!_

* * *

 **Authors notes**

 **Welp, a bit of a shorter chapter, but one with a lot of progression in my opinion. So yes, Nathan has an Aura, and hes going to be learning how to use dust. I know I haven't been writing as much as usual, but my work and my homework has really been setting me back. Hope you guys can understand.**

 **Thankfully I've already begun work on my next chapter of Blades if thats any consolation. I'm also going to try to write a bit more on the weekends, as that seems to be the only large amount of free time I'm going to get to write. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and as always...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4-Trial by Fire

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fallout**

 **Trial by Fire.**

Dogmeat wagged his tail absentmindedly on the slightly old couch that Nathan had procured from a yard sale some days ago. Nathan in the meantime was busying himself with the work-in-progress teleporter in the center of his personal shop at the school. He screwed in another metal plate onto one of the three protrusions on top of the main platform, hiding some wires that were previously exposed to the elements. The sole survivor wiped the sweat from his exposed brow as he whistled a bit.

"This has been easier than I thought." Nathan commented as he surveyed the near completed teleporter. The main platform was much wider than the original design he used to get into the institute, and the three arm-like pillars that encompassed the platform were also a bit bigger, each one being covered in vacuum tubes and piping. The whole platform device was connected to a personal computer that Ozpin had stored in a storage closet somewhere in beacon. It was what the professor described as an 'older model'. However to Nathan, it was far more refined and complex than any of the computers on earth.

"Especially since I don't need to worry about a power source." Nathan continued, looking at the extension cord that led to one of the outlets on the far wall. "All that I need now is something to create and amplify the signal." Nathan then looked to his diagrams again, set up on a diagram table within his shop. "I'll probably have to move all this outside, but at least I'll have the finished product." Nathan stretched as he looked at his work, and sighed contently. _All this prep work for the classes Ozpin is having me do may have all just been a waste of time. Soon, I'll be out of wherever this is, and back in sanctuary sipping on a nuka-cola._ Nathan thought to himself. Then something hit him. _Wait... If their teleporter somehow sent me to another world...How is my miniature version going to do the same? Ah shit._ Before Nathan could continue to ponder this revelation, a knock came from his door. Nathan went over to the door and opened it.

"Ah! Mr. Sullivan!" Oobleck said as the door opened, revealing the energetic professor was right in front of the doorway, startling Nathan a bit. "I see your working on your teleporter. I was wondering if I could have a look at it." Nathan paused, an unsure expression on his face. _Would letting this kind of technology into the hands of beacon really be safe? Well, their going to have it anyway when I leave... If I leave._ Nathan thought as he moved out of the way, allowing the professor in.

"Sure, just don't mess with anything, its kind of... fragile." Nathan said tentatively as Oobleck approached the machine. Dogmeat seemed to give no reaction to the professor, other than turning over on the couch. Oobleck hummed as he looked at the platform, and then the computer where the commands were already set up, and finally how he had it hooked into the wall, where Nathan could get his power.

"Interesting, very interesting." Oobleck said aloud as he examined the molecular beam emitter attached to the platform. Nathan watched as Oobleck hummed to himself. "So what exactly does all of this do?" Oobleck's question made Nathan sigh a bit.

"In essence what this does is break you, or whatever else is on the platform, down into a transmittable molecular construct that will then be re-constructed at another teleporter elsewhere. The only thing I lack now is a relay dish... Or at least something to transmit the molecular data." Nathan explained, and Oobleck looked at him with fascination.

"Incredible! But it does seem rather dangerous to break someone down on a molecular level. Doesn't that... hurt?" Nathan shook his head.

"Nope, I've done it plenty of times, never hurt me, but did make me a bit dizzy the first dozen or so goes. It most likely because the first thing that gets broken down is your head, meaning your brain actually never registers any molecular breakdown." Oobleck seemed to gush over the technology that was laid before him, and Nathan couldn't help but chuckle a bit. It was strange how some things had seemed to develop better in comparison to Earth on Remnant, but when it came to others, Remnant seemed to not even have a concept of the idea.

"How long until it's fully operational?" Oobleck asked, still darting from one place to another observing the machinery from every possible angle.

"All I need to do is create a relay dish, and probably take all this outside. Then It should be ready." Nathan answered, and Oobleck smiled as he turned to the mostly armored man.

"You certainly are proactive aren't you? Its good to see your making good use of your time." Oobleck commented as he approached Nathan. The sole survivor shrugged, as he had always been quite proactive, and did not see it as anything special. "So if its going to be completed so soon, I imagine you won't be able to actually teach." Nathan nodded, those same thoughts having gone through the sole survivor's head multiple times.

"Well, yea, but honestly, I think the less time I stay in this world...universe, whatever, the better. There could be serious consequences that neither one of us know about when it comes to this kind of stuff. So the sooner I get back, the better." As Nathan explained this, he walked over to one of the workbenches he had, and picked up the still closed bottle of lightning dust he had been given not too long ago. "Of course, I'm still not sure what I'll do with this dust stuff, I'll probably just leave it here, I don't really have a very good Idea of how to harness it's power without using something you guys already have."

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out." Oobleck said, adjusting his glasses. "Its almost time for dinner, why don't we-" The professor was suddenly cut off as his scroll began to ring. He brought it out of his pocket, and answered it. "Ozpin, I was just about to bring Nathan to dinner, what seems to be...?" Oobleck stopped, obviously listening, and a concerned expression grew on his face, making Nathan a bit concerned as well. "I see. We'll be right there." Oobleck hung up the call, and turned to Nathan. "You might want to put that suit of armor you have on."

* * *

"Thank you for coming Nathan." Ozpin said as he saw the large suit of flame painted power armor step into his view within his office. Next to him was not Glynda as normal, but instead was Port. Nathan was slightly confused on everything that was going on, but considering what Oobleck had told him on the way to the office, he decided to save his questions for later. "Now, it seems as though a concerning situation has arisen in the town of Greenville. As you all now know." The three men nodded to the headmaster, all of them having a firm grasp on the situation. "Unfortunately its gotten worse. It seems as though Vale will indeed, not be able to help us. It'll be up to your three to handle the Grimm threat." Ozpin explained, causing Nathan to grow even more concerned.

"You mean there's no backup? That village is going to be flowing with Grimm, if it isn't already. How are we going to deal with that by ourselves?" Ozpin nodded, understanding his concerns.

"Our main concern is the villagers, not the village." Port said, breaking his silence. "We get them to some bullhead transports, and get them out of there. The village buildings can be re-built." Nathan nodded in understanding. "While they get on the transports, we keep the Grimm away from them, and try to rescue anyone we can."

"With all the negativity being brought about by all this, more and more Grimm are going to keep showing up. So juts be sure to be careful out there." Ozpin said, and the three man nodded, but Nathan had one more question that needed to be answered.

"Theres still one thing I'm confused about, how did this all begin anyway? I understand the Grimm got into the village and created more panic, but how did they get that close to the village anyway?" Nathan asked, as Ozpin began to stand up, ready to depart for a different important outing.

"The way I understand it, a fire started in the village's school house, which made a lot of the adults panic, thinking their children were still inside. Which in turn caused the Grimm to gravitate towards them." _So how did the fire start?_ Nathan thought to himself, but decided to remain silent. Ozpin walked to the elevator leading to the office, as the others followed.

"At the moment, I must join Glynda for an important meeting. I trust the three of you to take care of this?" At the bottom, Ozpin began to make his way outside to the bullheads, talking to the others along the way. Port quickly responded.

"Absolutely, those Grimm will wish they had never crossed paths with me! We'll dispose of them and make sure the villagers are safe." Port said with his usual boisterous attitude.

"Thats good to hear." Ozpin said with a small smile. Then he looked behind him to see Nathan, his power-armored form taller than all of them. "Will you be okay Nathan?" The man chuckled, his laugh given a radio like effect due to the mask.

"Oh yea, Ive done this kind of thing all the time back on earth. As weird as that sounds."

* * *

Nathan, Port, and Oobleck rode in a passenger bullhead alongside three others, all of which were meant to transport the inhabitants of the village. Nathan had at first been a bit skeptical about the whole operation, considering the size of the bullheads, and the number of villagers that inhabited Greenville. It seemed unreasonable that they only had two hunters, and an armored soldier, to send for an operation like this. The pilots could help, but if they were to leave the confines of the bullheads, they could get hurt, potentially leaving one of the valuable passenger bullheads without a pilot. Which meant that the fighting of the Grimm, the recuse of the villagers, and the protection of the bullheads were all going to be relegated to three individuals. While Nathan had faced similar odds and won out, he was rarely forced to do so during a rescue operation. This also made him wonder juts how short staffed Vale's security detail was.

"Nervous Nathan?" Port asked rather cheerily as he slapped the armored man's back. His attitude severely betrayed what Nathan saw as a very Grimm situation. "Don't worry, your attack dog might not be here, but we'll be right by your side." Nathan nodded curtly, but his helmet was fixated on a slight orange glow within the forest, in contrast to the dark night that swallowed the landscape. Nathan could tell there were black smoke clouds rising from the very obvious fire, and wondered if they would be able to control the inferno if it spread to the forest.

"Sixty Seconds!" A voice said, coming from the pilot's seat, signaling to the hunters and other world-er they were almost to the village. Nathan pressed some of the extended knobs of the Pipboy on his left arm, and saw the menu pop up on the power armor's HUD. He wasn't sure exactly what he's need, but not only did he have the weapons within his Pipboy, he also had the two heavy hitters on his back, and the Deliverer on his hip. He glanced to either side of him, seeing the two most explosive weapons he had strapped to his back. The Big Boy, and The Party-starter. He would only use these two as a last resort, as their explosive yield could be dangerous to enemies and allies alike.

"Once we land, we need to get as many villagers back to the bullheads as possible." Oobleck said, starting to formulate a plan. "If you two could get them to the transports, I will ensure they get there safely." Port and Nathan nodded, seeing it as a sensible plan. "Then..." Oobleck said as they began to pass over the village, the sight of burning buildings, raging Grimm, and scared people could easily be viewed. The Bullheads landed not too far from the edge of the village, and the three men immediately jumped off. "...Lets get these poor souls out of here."

"People of Greenville!" Port announced loudly as he and Nathan ran into the burning village. "Get to the Bullheads! We'll hold them off!" A Beowolf jumped the professor from behind, surprising Nathan, but Port simply jumped up with dexterity you would not expect of a man of his size. The Beowolf landed where Port was, and the professor came back down on top of the Grimm with his blunderbuss, the axe end being driven into the creatures skull, splitting it's head in half. It dissipated quickly afterwords.

The townsfolk had seen the Bullheads approaching, and most were already attempting to get to them. The only ones that weren't were the ones that were trying to fight off the Grimm with firearms or melee weapons. Nathan and Port quickly approached where there seemed to be a bit of a scuffle going on between the people and the Grimm. Beowolves were quickly outnumbering and outgunning the ones fighting as more showed up.

Port sprang into action, firing a lighting dust round into a Beowolf, sending the creature sprawling and t witching, slightly paralyzed. Nathan charged into another, the weight of the power armor, and the speed of the charge quickly reduced the Grimm to nothing.

"Everyone! Get to the Bullheads!" Port repeated for the fighters to hear, and many of them disengaged from the Grimm and fled. Except for one, and the professor recognized a look of desperation and anger in the male rabbit-faunas's features. He had white hair, and accompanying it, where two large rabbit ears on his head. Port quickly approached the man "Son, get to the bullheads, we need to get everyone to safety." The man seemed to glare daggers at port for a moment, before the glare became more of a pleading one.

"Please, my wife! My wife and my little girl are trapped in our home down the road, please! I need to rescue them!" Nathan overheard the conversation as he slammed his armored bot on the top of a Beowolf's head, before retrieving 'Le Fusil Terribles' from his Pipboy, and approaching the pair. The man noticed him immediately, his eyes bulging slightly at the sight of his armor.

"I'll get them." Nathan said calmly, an expression of grim understanding hidden under his helmet. "Port, can you hold off the Grimm from the Bullheads?"

"Of course I can! You leave that to me, you go rescue those girls." Nathan nodded his thanks, before turning back to the father. His eyes were full of hope, but also of concern, both for his family and for the man who said he was going to rescue them.

"Don't worry, If I can get them back, I will." Nathan said, before he began to jog further into the village. The sole survivor briefly glanced behind him, wondering if that man's expression of desperation was the same one he had when he first walked out of the vault.

* * *

"Run, Emily." A brown-haired Rabbit Faunas Woman said weakly to her daughter as the little girl attempted to pull her mother from the wreckage that used to be their house. The girl had rabbit ears as well, and had white hair with big dark brown eyes. Her mother was trapped under a large beam of their house, and fire was slowly beginning to spread into the building. While the Grimm couldn't get inside, the smoke from the fire certainly could. "We'll both die if you stay." The mother said before coughing blood, some of it even getting on her daughter's mostly dark brown floral dress.

"N-No! I can't leave you mommy! You have to get out!" Emily practically screamed, tears streaming down her face. "We have to get daddy!" She was desperate, and couldn't muster the strength tp pull her mother out, nor could she lift the beam on top of her. "Please!" She cried as she continued to pull on her mother's arm. Then a hand touched her face, and Emily recognized that touch.

"Don't worry Emily." Her mother said weakly, smiling as much as she could. Her hand cupped her daughters face, resigned to her fate, trying to save her daughter from the encroaching fire. "I'll be fine, you need to go." Emily began to cry harder, her dark brown eyes full of sadness as they stared into her mother's own dark brown eyes. Then the wall caved in.

Emily flinched as some shrapnel fell near her and her mother. Then she looked over to then new hole in the wall. Standing there was a pure black silhouette, before it's eyes lit up a bright solid red, an insectoid shape to them. Emily's mother stared in horror at the giant humanoid Grimm that had just busted down a wall of the house, her fear for her daughter's safety growing exponentially. The fire was growing, and smoke had turned the room hazy, but she could still see the red eyes and black body.

"Emily, run!" Her mother begged, but to her horror, the girl had stood up and stared at the figure with determination. Her mother knew what the girl was doing, but Emily had moved out of her reach.

"No! I won't let you hurt mommy!" Emily yelled defiantly as the Grimm began to slowly approach them, heavy footsteps hitting the wooden floor. Emily stood her ground as the dark figure stepped into the light. Revealing the flame painted metal body. "W-What?"

"Why would I hurt her?" The figure asked, a man's voice coming out as if from a radio. He looked over and saw Emily's mother, he stepped over and rather easily lifted the beam from above her, before gently pulling her out. She had a dumbfounded expression on her face as her Daughter came rushing to her. "Are you okay?" The man asked, kneeling down to look at her head on. Reluctantly, she shook her head. "I understand, but I need to get you out of here, and its going to be a bumpy ride. Here, I have something that can help you." At the strange man's words, a strange syringe appeared in his hand. "Its... a pain killer of sorts."

* * *

Before she knew it, Emily was now holding onto the back of the armored man for dear life as he ran towards the bullheads. Grim were following them, and more tended to give chase as they fled. Emily's mother was being carried under the man's left arm, while he held a small pistol in his right that he would occasionally shoot with if a Grimm got too close.

Nathan was simply trying to get to the bullheads without dropping the girl's mother. The deliverer was full of what he was told was earth rounds. While not as commonly used as fire or lightning rounds, earth rounds could be useful for knocking back enemies without using rare gravity dust. He only had a few gravity dust rounds anyway, and he sure wasn't going to use them for combat. He was coming upon the bullheads and could see Port rush over to him, obviously trying to stop the Grim chasing him. The hydraulics and servos in the power armor accelerating the three of them to the bullheads.

Port slammed a Grimm's side, causing it to be knocked into several other Grimm that were also following Nathan. The Beowolves looked at the man with hatred, and he simply rose his blunderbuss and fired. A Beowolf was shot in the head, and his body slowly started to dissipate afterwards. The rest of the Beowolves attempted to pounce the professor, but in response he spun his blunderbuss around, and hefted one mighty swing, slicing four of them in half at once. The other Grimm were not so eager to join their brethren in an assault.

Soon enough Nathan reached the bullheads, and saw the father from before. The faunas immediately recognized both the armored man, and his family that were being carried. He immediately rushed to them.

"Emily! Carla!" The Father cried, as he ran to his family. Nathan gently set the mother down into the bullhead, and Emily jumped off his back to hug her father with teary eyes. "Your alright. Wait, Carla! What happened?" The woman shook her head as both her husband and daughter approached her.

"A beam of the house fell on me, but I'll be alright. Its thanks to that huntsman that I'm alive." She said while looking up to the huntsman in question. Nathan nodded curtly at her, and the family looked up to him in thanks and joy. That was interrupted by the sound of Port's voice.

"Nathan, I believe I will need your assistance here." Port said while grunting, as another Ursa dissipates in front of him. Nathan curtly nodded, and went to assist the man as Oobleck continued to hold back Grimm with a... mechanical Torch? Nathan made a mental note to ask what kind of weapon that was exactly. Nathan de-atomized the Les Fusil Terribles and immediately shot one of the Beowolve's heads off. More Grimm were coming, but thankfully most of the villagers were on the shuttles, and they were getting ready to take off, or so they all hoped.

Nathan shot twice more with two more Beowolves going down with two more fire dust shells. Nathan felt something hit is side, and bounce off. He looked to his left and saw another Beowolf that had apparently tried to tackle him. He shot it in the chest, the majority of it's body being destroyed near instantly. Then an Ursa came charging at him, and Nathan began shooting at the much larger Grimm. The first shell merely grazed the side of the Grimm, black ichor spewing out a bit. The second hit it's faceplate, breaking away half of it, and causing the Ursa to roar in pain. The final shell also hit the faceplate, and caused the head to explode. The Ursa stopped moving it's leg, but the body kept going forwards, dragging across the grassy ground, a black ichor trail following it. The Ursa's corpse finally stopped only a step from Nathan's feet, as it dissipated. Nathan stifled a chuckle. Port then landed next to the armored man after taking out another Beowolf.

"Nathan, I believe we should be going. The Bullheads are ready" Port said before he aimed his blunderbuss and shot a round at a charging Beowolf. "We need to hop on before any serious Grimm sho-" Before he could finish his sentence, a burning house busted open sending burning wood shrapnel everywhere as a lone villager attempted to flee from the exploding house. Then a huge orange glowing stinger pierced the man from the house as a new Grimm emerged.

 _Great... This world has giant scorpions too._ Nathan thought as he watched the near house-sized Grimm come into view. It had hard looking white armored plating on it's back and tail, large frontal pincers, red eyes, and red intricate markings on it's back. The smaller legs on it's side were pitch black like most of the rest of it. The Grim lifted the barely living villager up, before throwing him into the woods. _Real jerk giant scorpions._

"A Death Stalker!" port exclaimed with excitement in his voice. "We need to dispatch of it ]at once! This will make for a great story!" Nathan shook his head. "Oobleck!" Port called to his partner, who turned to the portly professor. "Hold them off for a little longer, me and Nathan are going to-"

"Yes yes, destroy the Death Stalker. Well, do it quickly, we're all ready to leave, and if that thing is left alone..."

"It could move on to another village, or follow us back to Vale." Nathan surmised, a feeling of slight dread coming over him. Originally he thought Port wanted to simply kill the Grimm for another kill to be added to his name, but now he saw the true reason.

"Not just that!" Port said, breaking Nathan from his thoughts. "But also because defeating a Death Stalker is a great way to experience yourself with tougher Grimm. Besides all that, like I said earlier, It will make for a great story!" Nathan was starting to wonder how serious Port was, but decided to leave it be for now. The Death stalker began to approach them, several other Grimm moving out of the way. Port and Nathan ran to face it head on, aiming to be distractions for the Grimm so it didn't attempt to run past them to the bullheads.

Port was upon the Death Stalker first, and shot at it's eyes while jumping to it's side, the giant Grimm recoiled as the pelts from the blunderbuss took out one of it's eyes. Fiery orange ichor spewed from the eye, as Nathan closed the distance between him and the Grimm. He hefted Les Fusil Terribles, and shot multiple times at the Grimm's eyes as well. Two more orange orbs burst on the Death Stalker's face, and the Grimm screeched in pain. Before Nathan could react, the Death Stalker's left pincer slammed into Nathan's side. The power armor briefly lifted off the air before the other pincer grabbed Nathan and hefted him up, now in the Grimm's grasp.

Nathan attempted to get out of the Grip, but his arms were trapped in the pincers as well. He could hear the hydraulics slowly pry the pincer apart, but not before he noticed the Grimm's stinger was aiming at him. The pressure of the pincers on his armor wasn't enough to cause damage to the armor, but it was enough that he wouldn't be able to free himself before the stinger struck. Then the stinger suddenly fell off, along with a large amount of orange Ichor accompanying it. The Death Stalker screamed as it unintentionally released Nathan from it's grip, and Nathan looked around to eventually spot Port off to the right side of the creature, nodding to the sole survivor.

The armored man took the hint, and atomized his shotgun, before de-atomizing a large revolver with a bull barrel. It used to belong to a particular mercenary that Nathan had the displeasure of meeting, but now he used the pistol for far more righteous things. At least in his own opinion. Nathan rushed the Death Stalker again, and jumped on it's armored back, and aimed the 44 in the center of it's head. He unloaded the cylinder, the lead bullets cracking and breaking the bone-like structure on the Grimm. Nathan hopped off and saw that while it's head was now heavily bleeding Ichor, it was still moving, albeit thrashing like a crazed animal.

It screamed and flailed about, destroying more of the burning village, and actually catching few Grimm too. Port yelled as he jumped up high, using a Beowolf as a spring board, toward the Death Stalker, and by the time the Grimm realized what was happening, it was too late. The axe end of Port's blunderbuss came down on the exposed area that Nathan had created with his pistol, and practically split the rest of the Grimm's head open. A large crack formed down the middle of the rest of the head plate, while a respectable sized black oozing valley of Grimm-flesh was now home to Port's axe.

"Quickly! Before more Grimm show up!" Oobleck yelled from behind Nathan and Port, quickly reminding them of their main objective. Port retrieved his axe, and began sprinting with Nathan to the Bullheads.

* * *

"Excellent job Nathan, that was some fine huntsman work." Port complimented as he Nathan and Oobleck rested a few feet away from the unloading bullheads. As the citizens bailed out, officers from the Vale police department wrote names and numbers down on their notepads, while other officers and EMTs assisted the injured. May of the villagers, despite being saved, had sullen looks on their faces, while others were outright weeping. Nathan couldn't help but look. "Don't worry Nathan, eventually they will rebuild, but I understand what they must be feeling."

"You have no idea." Nathan said a bit dangerously, without looking back at the professor. Nathan knew Port didn't mean anything by it, but to have it not only happen to yourself, but others as well... It never sat well with him. Then he noticed one of the villagers was approaching them. It was the white haired rabbit faunas from earlier whose family was in trouble. He stopped in front of Nathan, a bit of trepidation in his stance and movements.

Nathan reached up and took off his helmet, revealing his face and giving the man an understanding and gentle smile. This seemed the give the man a sense of ease as he sighed, giving Nathan as best of a smile he could manage.

"I just wanted to say... thanks. If it hadn't been for you three, the pilots, and whatever you gave my wife before you saved her, neither of my girls would be here now. Again, thank you." The father said with no small amount of thankfulness and gratitude. Nathan shook his head.

"Just doing our job, but... Your welcome." A comfortable silence fell over the four of them, before the father looked back to notice his wife was being carried into an ambulance, and his daughter was right there with her. He looked back to the hunters, and Nathan simply nodded, understanding that he couldn't talk anymore. The father turned away, and went to reunite with his family.

Port walked up to Nathan and patted his armored back. The professor was about to say something else, but the familiar sound of a scroll ringing caught him off guard. It was Oobleck's. The Doctor quickly answered it.

"Hello?" He began, quickly followed by a "I see." Several small words like these passed from Oobleck's mouth, neither of his companions getting a good grasp as to the topic he was speaking about, or being told about. That was until the Doctor adopted a surprised expression as he looked off into space. "She had silver eyes?"

* * *

 **Author's notes**

 **Discord: /uDxVym8**

 **I know...I'm sorry, but I'm trying I promise. I had a trip out of tow recently, and I discovered I'm probably going to be working close to 50 hours this week. If I didn't get something done soon, It wasn't going to happen. So here it is, the last prequel chapter, aka, the last chapter before the beginning of the first season. So yes, next chapter will be all about the beginning of the school year... more or less.**

 **Moving on... to those that read my other story, Blades seeketh blood. I have begun the next chapter... but thats about it. I'm going to try to work on it a bit more often, so hopefully it won't be another month until I update something again. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and as always...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5- A Minor Inconvenience

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout or RWBY**

 **A Minor Inconvenience**

"So... Its complete?" A very suspicious Glynda Goodwitch asked as she observed Nathan Typing furiously on his provided computer. Silently she prayed that he wouldn't break it or worse, somehow break something in the school due to this contraption he built. He had previously assured both her and Ozpin that it was completely safe, but she still had her doubts. Glynda had just showed up to check on him, as dinner had come and gone, and he had not ventured to the teachers lounge. Only for her to find him on the computer searching for something on a grid of code, while the main tesla-coil like section of his 'teleporter' was dangerously a-lite with blue electricity.

"Hmm?" Nathan half-asked as he looked away from the computer to see Glynda eyeing the entirety of the molecular relay suspiciously. "For the most part yes, but the relay dish doesn't seem to be powerful enough for what I want to do. It keeps giving me errors. I may need something more powerful." He sighed, before looking back to Glynda with a shrug.

"I'll just have to either create a much bigger dish, or find one..." Nathan walked over to a workbench that had spare pieces of blueprint paper on it, and began to draw. Glynda shifted a bit, unsure of how to respond, but eventually walked up behind him, remembering what she was originally here to do.

"If you'd like, dinner is ready in the teachers lounge. Its been ready for the past twenty minutes in fact." Glynda said, which caused Nathan to turn around, a questioning expression on his face.

"You guys aren't waiting on me are you?" He asked, only now realizing what time it was. Apparently he had been working for a solid six hours on the last pice of his relay dish puzzle. Putting the dish together was the easy part, the hard pat was trying to find a destination. Every time he would recalibrate, rebuild, or increase the power supply of the dish, none of it seemed to give it the signal strength it needed to detect the institute's teleporter, or any other teleporter for that matter. Before he had begun doing that, he had been working on creating a special project he had recently devised.

"No, we have already eaten, but Ozpin was concerned that you hadn't stepped out of your shop all day. You never did come and eat lunch, or breakfast." Glynda added, seeming to be a bit annoyed at his lack of presence. She glanced around, noticing no signs of any food or drink consumption, only work items, and looked at him skeptically.

"I just kinda get into it. I keep a lot of food and drinks and stuff in this." Nathan said, pointing at the PipBoy on his arm. "Perfectly safe to consume too." Nathan then proceeded to de-atmoize a fresh apple, and handed it to Glynda, who gave him a deadpan glare. "Too on the nose?"

"Are you going to come eat or not?"

"Sure thing! I'll follow you." Nathan replied joyfully, while Glynda sighed and walked out of the room, but not before taking a bite out of the apple. _This is actually a pretty good apple._ Glynda thought, as she proceeded to take another bite out of it, Nathan smiling all the while.

* * *

Ozpin hummed as he sipped on another cup of coffee as he listened to Nathan explain his situation regarding the relay dish. As he absorbed the information, he couldn't help but be impressed by how Nathan had already been devising ways on how to fix his problem. Him, Nathan, and Glynda were all in the teacher's lounge, with Nathan sitting at the table, eating some re-heated pork as he talked. Glynda seemed to be thinking of something, but Ozpin wasn't quite sure what. Nathan finished his meal, stood up, and sighed.

"Well, unless you guys have a satellite dish or something I could borrow, I don't think I'll be leaving anytime soon." Ozpin nodded in understanding, while he had no idea how Nathan's device was able to teleport people and things using radio-esk transmission, he did know how something like that could run into issues. Nathan looked a bit dejected, but he wasn't outright depressed. _He is probably thinking of a place he could build a bigger relay dish to use. But..._ Ozpin glanced over to Glynda, who seemed to want to say something, but kept her mouth shut.

"Perhaps there is something that could help you with that." Ozpin began, but Glynda immediately caught on to what he was thinking.

"I don't think thats a good Idea, who knows what would happen?" Glynda said in warning, causing Nathan to perk up a bit. Choosing to ignore her words for now, Ozpin looked at Nathan with a serious expression as he sipped his coffee.

"Have we told you about the Cross Continental Transit System?" Nathan shook his head. "Well then, allow me to explain what is, essentially, the most influential technological innovation of recent history." Nathan's eyes widened, but stayed attentive to what Ozpin was about to tell him. "Otherwise known as the CCTS, the Cross Continental Transit System allows for near instantaneous multi-media communication between the kingdoms. Originally developed by Atlas, and then given as a gift to the other kingdoms, It has played a crucial part in the fight against the Grimm. Whether it be a way to contact emergency personnel in the case of a Grimm attack, much like the one you helped fight, or simply transferring information about Grimm from one kingdom to another, the CCTS allows us to do so easily and efficiently. This is perhaps the most powerful form of wavelength communication in the world, and Beacon Tower just so happens to host Vale's CCTS tower." After Ozpin finished his info dump, Nathan nodded, knowing exactly what kind of tech he was referring too. Old world terminals used similar technology, but often had to be connected via land lines.

"So your saying the only chance I'll have to get home by teleporter is using Beacon Tower?" Nathan asked, and Ozpin nodded.

"However, the CCTS tower is not designed for transferring matter, so not only would I not recommend using it for your own safety, I also would not recommend it in the case that your device somehow damages the tower." Ozpin warned, and Nathan crossed his arms with a frustrated sigh. As much as it seemed like the perfect device to use, The headmaster was right, there were too many variables and unknowns to risk using it. _This CCTS thing is meant to connect to and transfer data from different kingdoms, what If the teleporter hooks onto one of the other kingdom's CCTS towers and I get sent there? Or worse, a part of me gets sent to each._ Nathan's morbid thoughts caused him to shiver a bit.

"Well, that... uh..." Nathan slumped in his chair, a thoughtful expression on his face. Ozpin and Glynda glanced at each other. They could tell this news has troubled Nathan greatly, as it would anyone else that was in his situation. Ozpin walked closer to him, and sat down on a chair close by, facing Nathan. A sympathetic smile was on Ozpin's face.

"Perhaps in the future you will be able to find another way to return." Ozpin offered, to which Nathan nodded somewhat absentmindedly, a distant look on his face.

"Y-Yea, probably when I find a way to make my own CCTS tower." He chuckled at his own joke, but the teacher and headmaster did not. After all, the implications of such a statement were rather depressing. It took years to complete the CCTS towers. Perhaps if Nathan had the patience of a Saint, and millions of linen to spare, he would be able to do just as he said it would require.

"Maybe in the future, Nathan, but for now why don't you take a break?"

The late evening sun bathed Ozpin's office in a soft orange, as the headmaster sat in front of his desk, reading a delivery report for all the food that had been sent to the school in the past week. It was meant to supply the hunstman academy with enough food for a few weeks before they would need to call in another delivery. Ozpin sighed to his self, it was only a few days before the students arrived, and while everything was pretty much ready, the troubling news with Nathan might affect his morale a bit. He still hoped that the other-worlder would still be up to teach.

The elevator of his office 'dinged' as the doors opened revealing Glynda, a somber expression on her face. He had sent her earlier to see if Nathan had needed anything, and besides the desire for something alcoholic, he had not requested anything else to his knowledge. Glynda approached his desk, her expression unchanging.

"Remember that PipBoy thing he has on his arm?" She suddenly asked, which caused Ozpin to raise an eyebrow, before he nodded, remembering the advanced pice of hardware Nathan had strapped to his arm. "Apparently he has alcohol in it too..." Ozpin chuckled a bit at this. "...A lot of alcohol in it." This made Ozpin pause as he considered for a moment what would happen if Qrow ever got his hands on something like that. "Anyways, besides the fact he's drinking like a certain huntsman we know, I think he's fine."

"Let us hope so." Ozpin said as he pt his hands together in front of his mouth in a thinking gesture. Glynda nodded as she took out her scroll, several items opening up on it.

"Then everything should be ready. All we need now are the students." Ozpin stared ahead, his thoughtful expression unwavering. Glynda looked at him with a bit of worry.

"I believe they're getting ready." Glynda's eyes widened a bit at his words. "I don't know when they'll strike. But when they do, We'll need all the help we can get."

* * *

 **Two Days Later...**

The afternoon shone down on Beacon academy as Nathan worked on building a power armor stand in his personal workshop. He looked over briefly at the bare wall that separated the room from the outside. _Maybe my next project can be making a bay door for this place... yea that sounds like a good project._ Nathan thought before he went back to work on the stand. Ever since the realization he wouldn't be returning home anytime soon, Nathan had set himself to his work. After first making a rather noticeable dent in his alcohol. Several projects had already come to mind, but the power armor stand was his main priority.

If those Grimm creatures could get as big and as dangerous as that death stalker at the village, then it would't hurt to make his armor a bit stronger. Or maybe mess with the mechanics inside of it a bit to help energy consumption. After all, he had a very limited amount of fusion cores he could use. Granted, that amount was still over a hundred, but he didn't want to take any chances.

There was actually something pretty big going down right now in another part of the academy, the student's arrival. However Nathan knew that he would probably get his fair share of interactions with them later on, so for now he was going to focus on this little project, at least until initiation. Whatever that involved.

He got to a point where he was rather satisfied with the work he had put in. It wasn't quite finished, but all it needed were finishing touches. Nathan sat up, and saw that Dogmeat was lying on the old couch, half asleep, half watching him. As the man got up, Dogmeat's head popped up as well, eager to get up and do something. The two of them left the whole of the work area, and traveled into beacon's hallways. Nathan had on his mask due to the welding he was doing earlier, and saw no reason to take it off. As he headed toward the auditorium he could hear the chatter and murmurs typically expected of young teenagers or really any group of people anticipating something. He veered off course and made a bee line to what he knew was the 'teachers and staff only' entrance for the auditorium. He stepped through the door to be greeted with a staircase, and after climbing up it, he caught sight of Oobleck and Port watching something on the auditorium stage. Nathan was about to ask what it was before he heard Ozpin clear his throat.

"I'll... keep this brief." Ozpin began, and he heard the chatter of the students die down as he spoke. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills..." As Ozpin's speech went on Nathan walked next to Port and Oobleck to see the students. Their position was a rather nice view over the whole of the auditorium, and while Nathan had never had a need to go inside yet, he now understood the true size of it. Rather large, to put it bluntly, and there were at least a few hundred students in there. "...It is up to you, to take the first step." By the time I had gotten a good look at the students, Ozpin's speech ended, and Glynda stepped up to the microphone as he left.

"You will gather at the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. Your dismissed." Glynda's short announcement was followed by the students murmuring as she exited the stage as well. Nathan was briefed on the basics of how the academy worked. Like how each team was comprised of four hunters, and how throughout their years here, they would be spending most of their time together, including sleeping in the same dorms. He had thought it was ludicrous, but Nathan supposed that most of these kids were technically of age, so they could be responsible. He guessed.

"Ah, Nathan, made it in time for the welcoming ceremony?" Port asked as he took notice of his fellow teacher. Nathan shrugged.

"I guess, wasn't much of a ceremony, as it was a short speech. But who am I to say anything?" He shrugged again as Port chuckled a bit.

"Well he did say he'd keep it brief." Nathan nodded as he observed the students leaving the auditorium in the direction of where he knew the ballroom was. He was surprised at how colorful the students were, between pink, red, green, blue, and yellow, there was a student for every color of the rainbow and then some. He'd seen weirder things he supposed, but it was a little jarring.

"So what do I do?" Nathan asked with genuine curiosity, and Oobleck spoke up to answer him.

"Well, we won't actually be starting classes until the day after tomorrow. Until then we wait, or in your case, work a little around the academy." Oobleck's words caused Nathan to raise an eyebrow, and while Oobleck couldn't see his face, he could tell he was a bit more curious about that 'work'. "Since you are the professor of the shop class, and you've said you have experience in construction and such..."

"I'm the handyman." Nathan said a bit tiredly, and Oobleck just smirked. "I suppose that makes sense, but I'll only be fixing stuff when I don't have class."

"Of course! Now, I have a leaky facet head that needs your attention." Nathan sighed as he and Dogmeat followed the quick talking professor outside. As he did though, something he remembered he doctor saying earlier came back to his mind. _Whats the big deal about silver eyes?_

* * *

As night approached Nathan couldn't help but feel a bit anxious about what was to come in the next few weeks. Working with students to hep them improve their weapons, and help them to perfect their creations. If they even attended his class in the first place. It was optional after all. Most of his work would probably be handy-man work rather than actual teaching. Speaking of which, Nathan sighed as he finished tightening a screw on the panel attached to the outside air conditioner, as the machine continued it's steady roar.

"Why the hell did no one check this thing before all the students got here?" Nathan asked aloud, looking at Dogmeat, his canine companion tilted his head curiously. The sole survivor sighed as he began to walk back to his bedroom on campus. "I guess its a good thing they gave me a proper bedroom huh?" He asked Dogmeat, who did nothing but wag his tail.

Due to the fact the students were going to be using pretty much every dorm in the school, Ozpin had swiftly informed Nathan that he would have to use his personal shop as a bedroom. Unfortunate as that may be, Nathan didn't particularly mind, he had slept in worse. The teachers did have permanent bedrooms, as well as the janitor. Nathan was a bit surprised to learn that they indeed had a janitor. But upon meeting him, Nathan understood why they also needed a handyman. The janitor was at least fifty, if not sixty years old, you couldn't expect a man of that age to do any large amount of heavy lifting.

"At least the Randal guy is pretty nice." Nathan commented, thinking back to the first time he had met the older janitor. While the introductions were short, the older man had shown Nathan where the various vales, shut off switches, air conditioners, and pumps that were located at Beacon. After that was finished, Randal had also explained that there were certain areas that were special problems. Not because of the systems themselves, but because of what the Students would put them through. At least he was warned.

Nathan entered the Academy, and made his way to his shop, Dogmeat following close behind. As he rounded the corner, he saw Glynda walking his direction, her typical serious expression on her face. She noticed him, but her expression didn't change and her pace didn't slow. Nathan didn't slow down either, but instead simply moved out of the way, assuming she was heading somewhere else. He was wrong.

"Mr. Sullivan." She addressed him properly, and he gave her a nod to signal he was listening. "I trust that your sleeping arrangements are... suitable?" She asked with hesitation. For a second, Nathan thought that she had been back there and seen where he was sleeping. It wasn't bad in any use of the word, after all, Ozpin had given him a spare student bed to use. So he was curious as to why she was asking.

"Batter than normal actually, at least here I don't have the urge to sleep with a gun under my pillow." Nathan responded, but in truth he did so anyway. "Why do you ask?" Glynda's eyes narrowed at his comment, apparently not comforted by the notion he would keep a firearm so close to him at all times, but there was also a hint of pity in her eyes. Not that she would ever admit it.

"Making sure Ozpin had the fore-thought of giving you a bed before he told you to move out of the dorms... He did give you a spare bed didn't he?" Nathan nodded a bit amusedly. "Good, it wouldn't be very appropriate for one of our staff members to be sleeping on the floor." Glynda further explained. Nathan crossed his arms and looked at her through his helmet with an amused expression.

"Worried about me are you?" Nathan prodded, and Glynda's face already began to from into a small scowl. "Thats very sweet of you." Nathan said with just a hint of sarcasm. Glynda sighed and shook her head.

"Maybe he shouldn't have given you a bed." Glynda said with a glare, and Nathan chuckled. He uncrossed his arms and began to move past her to his shop.

"Thanks for thinking about me anyway. See you in the morning." Nathan said with a small wave as he left her in the hallway. As he opened the door to the shop, and then to his personal workshop, he watched Dogmeat quickly jump onto the couch, the canine most likely tired from walking around Beacon. _I wonder though._ Nathan thought as he atomized his armor into his Pipboy so he could sleep with just his jumpsuit. _What exactly does Beacon do for initiation?_

* * *

 _Apparently this._ Nathan couldn't help but gawk a bit as he watched students get launched from platforms into the emerald forest. He was nowhere near where they were, and instead he, Port, Oobleck, and peach were all watching from the security room. The main screen switched to a different camera angle where Nathan saw the students fly upwards, surprised most of them weren't freaking out. Except for one, who was hopelessly flailing about, apparently not ready for the sudden launch from the metal platform.

"And this is safe?" Nathan asked aloud, the clear answer being 'no', but him not wanting to say it aloud. "Well, I guess Ozpin and Glynda are there." He reasoned, and Port chuckled a bit.

"If these young men and women are ever going to become huntsmen and huntresses then they need to learn how to rely on themselves and those around them rather than just some unseen backup force." Port answered, and Nathan looked at the screen with some worry. _Even so, they're still kids._ He thought to himself. They watched the initiation from the various hidden cameras inside of the forest. As he watched, Nathan couldn't help but be impressed by their skill. Between beowolves, an Ursa, and even some giant snakes, the kids were handling them pretty well.

Nathan wondered if it was all from personal skill, or if had something to do with Aura. He knew that Aura could enhance strength and speed, but to what degree he still didn't know, as his own Aura didn't affect his own abilities as much. An hour went by and everyone on screen seemed to have a partner. Some appeared to have better pairings than others. He couldn't hear, as the cameras did not provide sound, but at the very least the video quality was good. He remembered when he first reacted to this world having color TV. He was very jealous, and it was another reminder of just how much of a head start this world had due to the 'dust' they used.

Two of the proposed huntresses approached the ruins that kept the chess pieces on them, and would serve as their means to a full team of four. One of them was a blonde with long wild looking hair, wearing some all too revealing clothes. The jacket she had was very obviously too small for her... or it was made that way. Either way, at the very least he clothing looked rather thick. The other, black haired girl was just as scantly clad, but the clothes she wore were very obviously thin and... unrestrictive. Nathan figured that these kids must really have a lot of faith in their aura. He had the stuff and even he didn't entirely trust it.

They weren't the first one he had seen enter the ruins, but something was off about the black haired one, and he had noticed it earlier. He didn't know what it was, but she looked... familiar. Maybe he had seen her in Vale before? They picked out a chess pice as he tried to remember. Then the blonde one jerked her head in a direction, and said something, but the lack of sound made it impossible to hear. He could of sworn he saw her lips say something about a 'girl' and 'trouble'

Then a younger looking girl in a red dress fell from the sky... followed by that same kid that had been sent flailing by the platform earlier. He had missed whatever had led up to this, but this now had his full attention. He watched in fascination as a red haired girl wielding what he could only describe as the mother of all hammers ride in on an Ursa, followed closely by a young man in green suspiciously Chinese attire. And then a red haired... roman girl? Italian? Nathan shook his head. _Its all greek to me._ He thought as the girl ran out of the forest being followed by a death stalker.

"Well thats certainly interesting." Oobleck said as he watched the death stalker chase the red head. I nodded silently in agreement.

"I'll say, just look at where that one is!" Port exclaimed excitedly, at which the rest of us looked at the particular screen he was viewing only to see a white haired, otherwise proper looking, girl hanging from a nevermore's claw. She was wearing a white, almost lace looking, dress, and had a rapier strapped to her waist. She looked to be more annoyed than frightened. Then she fell.

Nathan became extremely worried for the girl as she plummeted toward the ground. He wondered if her aura would really be able to take a fall like that, and then the blonde kid from earlier jumped out of a tree and... attempted to save her? He swore it looked like something out of a cartoon as he caught her, and then they both fell to the ground, only a little of the momentum lost. There were eight of them in total, and all in all they seemed to be able to handle themselves rather well. The red head that had been running from the death stalker had been knocked toward where most of the others were at the ruins. He saw the girl in the red dress whip out a... giant scythe of all things, as she charged the death stalker. The girl with the wild blonde hair running after her with little hesitation. But it was clear the younger girl was much faster.

The following sequence of events could only be described as ludicrous. Nathan stared in mild wonderment as the nevermore shot it's father at the ground and pinned the red dressed girl by her cape. Then the white haired one rushed forward before the Death stalker could take advantage of red's trapped position. Nathan had remembered Oobleck telling him that dust could be combined in different ways to get intended effects, he just didn't expect those effects to be so... potent. The giant ice wall that had frozen the Death stalker's tail in place was something Nathan had not expected, much less for said ice wall to come from the white haired girl. Things didn't stop there as the eight of them decided to take the relics they needed, and high tail it out of there.

The death stalker and giant nevermore followed them of course, but it appeared that they were prepared for whatever came their way, as they didn't seem all too concerned. They were halfway to where Ozpin and Glynda were before they stumbled upon even more ruins. It made Nathan wonder just where all of these ruins were from.

The group of hunters in training were forced to fight both the giant nevermore and the death stalker as they were pinned against the face of a massive cliff where the ruins were located. Then they began to fight the two massive Grimm. The odd glyphs that the white haired one could make were proving to very useful, especially given the fact she could produce them mid-air. And the hammer that the orange haired girl wielded looked rather... Nathan blinked as the death stalker's own stinger was thrust like a nail into the Grimm's body. _Yes, definitely dangerous._ Nathan thought as he watched saw a twinge of sadistic glee from the girl as the Death stalker fell into the chasm below them. Then the red dressed girl wielding the giant scythe ran up the side of the cliff with the help of the white dressed girl's glyphs, and promptly decapitated the nevermore when the giant Grimm had been pinned down.

"Splendid! What a move!" Port exclaimed, obviously impressed by the display. "It reminds me of my own initiation!" Oobleck seemed to shake his head at that.

"It was rather impressive, but I hope they learn to be more careful. Their auras will only take so much damage, and they won't always have so many other to rely on." Peach commented, the normally quiet teacher giving her two cents.

Nathan gulped, he doubted if even he would have been able to take down something of that size. At least, not without the help of his biggest weapon. It was a little intimidating to think he would be in charge of teaching a whole class of these kids. The four of them continued to watch the rest of the students finish their initiation, occasionally stopping to watch for the bathroom or something to eat. Once the initiations were complete, it was time to assign teams.

Those that finished earlier had gotten some time to freshen up or take a break, others, not so much. Some of them looked rather eager to be assigned to a team, while others looked like they just wanted to get it over with. Nathan watched from the same viewpoint he was at yesterday. Oobleck and the others were with him as he watched the teams be assigned. He knew that these hunters and huntresses were going to be working together for the foreseeable future, but did so many of these teams have to be mixed? It still seemed like a stupid idea to have mixed gender dorms and rooms. Although team CRDL seemed to be an all boys team for what it was worth.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie." Ozpin stated the names of another team as they walked up on stage. "The four of you received the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team JNPR." The orange haired one, Nora, hugged Ren at the announcement of their team. It made Nathan worry just what their dorm would be smelling like in a few weeks. "Led by, Jaune Arc."

Nathan blinked at that. The kid barely seemed to register half the stuff that was going on in the forest, now he's going to lead a team? _Ozpin must have a messed up sense of humor or something._ Nathan thought as the four of them left the stage.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long." Nathan did a double take as one again, another very Chinese sounding name came to his ears. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces, from this day forward you will work together as team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose." The blond one with the oddly Chinese last name ran up and hugged Ruby, clear excitement in her movements. "Looks like this are shaping up to be an... interesting year."

"No kidding." Nathan said as he glanced over to his other professors nodding in agreement. As he looked back he saw something that caught his attention. "Oh." Nathan said to himself as he looked at the portraits of the four members of the most recently formed team. "So shes the one with silver eyes..." _But why does that matter?_ Nathan thought as he continued to watch the team as they too stepped off the platform.

* * *

 **Authors notes**

 **I know, its been a while, and this might not have been the most exciting chapter... But the next one should certainly be more interesting. Everything been very... hectic. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter though, and as always...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6-First Class

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout or RWBY**

 **First class**

"Well, that was... something." Yang said as she and her partner Blake walked down the hall toward their dorms. "Do you think Ruby and Weiss are... okay?" Blake could only shrug, all she truly knew was that Weiss was upset about something, and Ruby was simply trying to help out as a team leader. At least she assumed thats why Ruby rushed after Weiss.

"I'm sure they're fine, at least I hope so. Ruby's probably not used to being a leader, so Weiss might be doubting her ability." Blake said, stopping briefly at their dorm's entrance, having been a separate building from the rest of the school, and faced the blonde. Yang's face scrunched up in annoyance, obviously bothered by the suggestion. "I can't necessarily blame her considering Ruby's age, but its only been a day." Yang nodded, glancing over the the message board nearby.

"I can understand that, but Ruby's an awesome little sister, and I think she can be a great leader. She just needs some time." Yang said, looking over the board with a curious eye. "Maybe we could get her in a good after-school club." Yang suggested looking at the club flyer that had been posted on the board. Some of them looked as though they had been tehre for some time, while others looked brand new.

"Or an after-school class for extra credit." Blake suggested, looking over the few flyer made by the school for said extra credit classes. There was a class for botany, chemistry, survival, and first aid, but one in particular caught the raven-haired girl eyes. "Ruby likes working with weapons right?" Yang nodded, and then looked to what Blake was referring to.

"Shop class? I don't know, Ruby's pretty darn competent with her weapons, I don't think she needs a class for something she's already an expert in." Yang said with an amused smirk. Blake shrugged as she turned away from the board and once again approached the doors to the dorms.

"Maybe she'd just like to talk shop with someone." Blake suggested. Yang put her hand to her chin in thought as she entered the doors, and Blake followed shortly after. Yang shrugged as she walked along, the dull halls of the dorms being the only thing visible as they headed toward their dorm room.

"Maybe, but theres probably other things she might like to try since shes here in beacon. The shop is actually open like all the time, so its not like its the only chance she'll have to work on her weapon, or talk to others that are working on theirs." Yang said, putting her hands behind her head she she walked along, a smile on her face. "Not to mention, it'd be good if she got into a school club, even if the ones here only meet once a week." Yang added, remembering that every club poster had the meeting for after normal school hours at the end of the week, usually every Saturday.

"I understand, just a thought." Blake commented as they arrived at their dorm room, and soon the two of them got to work on their homework they would have due at the end of the week. Well, Blake studied at least.

* * *

Ruby walked silently back to the dorms, her and Headmaster Ozpin's recent conversation still fresh in her mind. Maybe she has been a bit hard on herself, and she hoped that Weiss would let her have a day or so to prove herself a capable leader. It was all she could really do at the moment. _I just need to give it my all._ Ruby thought as she clenched her fists in resolve. _I'll make sure that Weiss knows I can be a good leader, I'll prove it to her and myself._ Ruby's thoughts came to a pause as she approached the doors to the dorms. Yang and Blake had most likely already gone ahead and were working on their homework. She giggled to herself. _Blake probably is, Yang... maybe not._ Her eyes drifted to the notice board right outside, full of both extra credit classes, and club papers. She wasn't too interested in anything like that, but Yang did tell her it would be good if she got out a bit more. Then her eyes caught onto a particular notice that made her eyes go wide with excitement.

"A Shop Class!" Ruby said out loud as she read the notice for the extra credit class. While it appeared to be centered toward those that want to upgrade or alter their weapons, and don't necessarily know how they should go about it, the opportunity to talk shop with someone, or multiple people for that matter was the perfect chance to meet new people. The class started at 7:00, and she looked at her watch.

6:54

"Ive got to go now!" Ruby exclaimed as she formed into a blur of rose pedals, and ran for where the shop was. This was one of the moments she was thankful that her semblance was so simple and useful. The young huntress in training zipped through the halls of beacon academy, quickly making her way to the workshop where the class was being held. She saw the doors to the workshop, but her thoughts paused as she saw a familiar figure right outside the door. He was lanky, had bright blonde hair, blue eyes, wore armor over a black hoodie, and had on his hip a basic sword and sheath. Of course, none of this stopped her from accidentally running straight into his back, forcing him through the doors to the class.

"Ow. Ruby?" Jaune asked as he rubbed the back of his head, recovering from the impact. The young blonde looked down to see Ruby sprawled onto his chest, apparently not expecting the force of the impact either. Jaune blushed a bit at the close proximity, but chose to stay mostly silent as Ruby groaned and lifted her head up.

"That hurt." Ruby said simply, but quickly realized she was resting on something uncomfortable, only to look up and see Jaune face looking at her as she laid on his chest. "Oops. My bad." Ruby chuckled, and as she pushed off the ground to stand, she looked further up and came face-to-face with a german Shepard's snout. Ruby gasped girlishly as she quickly stood up from the ground to see the german Shepard tilting his head at her. "Oh you are so cute! And what a cool bandana! Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" She said in baby talk as she pet the dog's head, and the Shepard returned the favor by licking her face affectionately. Jaune decided to stand up, and smiled at the show.

"Huh. Didn't expect a dog to be here." Jaune said curiously as he rubbed the back of his head, the collision still somewhat bothering him.

"Welcome! I see you've already met Dogmeat." A new voice greeted the pair, and upon speaking, the dog separated from Ruby to go to the voices owner. Ruby and Jaune looked on somewhat stunned by the appearance of the armored man. "Names Nathan, and welcome to shop class. Glad you two could make it, because..." The man's masked face glanced behind them into the hallway to see no one else behind them. "...It looks like no one else will show up." Nathan appraised the two, recognizing them from yesterday. "Why don't the two of you take a seat."

Ruby rushed past the professor and sat in a seat closest to what she assumed was the teacher's desk. Jaune laughed nervously as he followed her and took a seat next to her, also sitting close to the teacher's desk. Nathan strode up behind them and stood in front of them, his hands on his hips. The two looked around at the empty seats before back to their professor.

"Welp. Looks like you two are the only ones that wanted to show up. This is an optional class, so I shouldn't be too surprised. But anyway, you two probably have something shop related you either want to go over, or learn about, or maybe you want to alter your weapons a bit, and improve your abilities out in the field. We will get to all of that, but for now why don't we go over some basics of weapon design just so we're all on the same page." Nathan announced making Ruby nod enthusiastically and Jaune nod nervously. "So why don't we begin... by getting both of your names."

"Oh! I'm Ruby! I'm really glad that Beacon has a shop class, cause I was afraid that I was only going to be able to talk shop with my sister, but really she only listens because she loves me. Which is really sweet, but its nothing like getting to talk with other people that are really interested in stuff like this!" As Ruby stopped, her rapid sentences coming to an abrupt end, both Jaune and Nathan looked at her with curious expression, even if Nathan's was hidden. She looked at them, before blushing and looking away with embarrassment, a shy smile on her face. "S-Sorry, I just really like tinkering with my weapons."

"Thats perfect then, thats most of what we'll be doing in this class." Nathan added, making Ruby smile even brighter.

"I'm Jaune, I'm uh, kinda here because when I saw the poster I thought maybe I could make my weapon a bit... better. Its pretty basic as is, so Id really like to see what I can do." Nathan nodded as Jaune introduces himself.

"Understandable, after we go over a few things, we'll see what we can't do, and if she wants to, I'd allow Ruby to help out." Nathan suggests, getting a clear nod from the young girl, and a thankful look from Jaune. Nathan then walks over to his desk, and from behind, brings out a rolling chalkboard. "the first thing we should go over, is safety. I'm just going to briefly go over the tools you'll find in and on your desk, as well as some basic safety precautions when handling your weapons."

The beginning lesson was fairly simple, but was required if Nathan was going to teach Jaune anything. Ruby seemed to understand everything he was talking about, simply nodding along with an understanding smile, or sometimes even adding in details that I left out just to keep the first lesson simple. The kid knew her stuff that was for sure. Meanwhile Jaune would occasionally ask questions and seemed to struggle with the concept of 'Guns have recoil' for whatever reason. Nevertheless after the introduction was done, all that was needed was to set a goal of some kind for the end of the week.

"Alright Kids, I'm not one thats big on tests, so you don't have simple memorization and regurgitation homework." Both Jaune and Ruby seemed excited by that note. "However, the homework you'll have instead is to come up with a project to improve your equipment. It could be your main weapon, it could be a tool you've been wanting to make that will help you in the field, or my favorite option, a sidearm." This earned looks of confusion from both teens.

"Why would we need a sidearm if I have..." Ruby began, before pausing and bring out a red rectangular device from beside her, and unfolding it into a Giant Scythe at least half her size. "...Crescent Rose!" Jaune flinched only slightly when the weapon unfurled itself, but Nathan simply gawked at the size. He remembered her in the footage yesterday, but to see such a weapon up close was still rather impressive. Nathan smirked under his helmet as he knew just how to answer her question. He walked up to her, and handed his hand out politely.

"May I?" he asked, to which Ruby gladly nodded and handed him her weapon. Upon holding it, he was surprised at it's weight. It was definitely her aura that was helping her lift this thing. He searched it swiftly, and found a latch, and upon flipping it, it transformed into a compact version of a sniper rifle.

"Thats it's sniper form. Those are all the forms it has, Scythe, Sniper, and compact." Ruby answered for him as he found a small button, and upon pressing it, the rifle seemed to fold in on itself into it's compacted form. He then went over to his desk and put the weapon on top of it.

"Thats for opening your weapon without my permission during class. You'l get it back once we're done." Nathan said matter-of factly, to which Ruby's smile turned into one of shock and horror. And while over-exaggerated, it was clear she wasn't expecting such a response. "Now that you don't have a weapon, how would you expect to fight me or Mr. Arc here?" Nathan asked getting a stumped look from Ruby, who opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it. After a second she seemed to come up with what she thought was the right answer based off her excited and confident expression.

"Get Crescent Rose back!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly, and Nathan resisted the urge to face palm.

"Okay. You go to grab your weapon only to find out someone has taken a hammer to it, and dented it to the point where it doesn't function. What now?" Ruby's face falls at Nathan's hypothetical situation. Ruby tries to come up with a solution only for her face to become more saddened. "Exactly. If your main weapon is destroyed, Your suddenly defenseless with the exception of your semblance."

"I could run away, but... yea I guess thats why I would need a sidearm." Ruby says somewhat sadly. Nathan nods in satisfaction.

"Well, why don't you make that your project to design." Ruby gave a hesitant nod as she kept her eyes on Crescent Rose as she rested her head on her desk. Nathan seemed satisfied, and while he could tell she was a bit disappointed, he knows she would greatly benefit from having a secondary weapon. Then Nathan's gaze shifted to Jaune.

"Well I could probably use a secondary weapon too, but I really wanted to improve the one I already have. Since it doesn't have any kind of Ranged option. Maybe we could add a firearm of some kind to it?" Jaune asked hopefully, but with skepticism still etched in his tone. Nathan simply nodded.

"We can certainly try. During the week you'll want to make a design you have in mind to alter your weapon. If you don't know exactly what you want, tomorrow we'll go over designing and blueprints. Today was just shop basics and safety. So we'll have more to talk about tomorrow. Unless you had another question?" As Nathan finished, Ruby immediately raised her hand. Nathan motioned to her.

"What all will we be learning in this class Professor Nathan?" Nathan paused a bit at being called a professor, although that was his 'official' definitely not fake records say. He hummed as he thought.

"That all depends on what you want to learn. I suppose you already know all about firearms and weapons, but what about armor design, hydraulics? I can even teach you robotics if your interested and we have time. Which considering how small these projects are right now, I'm sure we will." Ruby's eyes light up with stars at the prospect of learning such intricate topics, while Jaune seemed to gulp. "Don't worry Jaune, We'll still have time to teach you anything you want to know." Jaune gave a sheepish smile at that.

"So what now?" Ruby asked curiously, and Nathan walks over to his desk, picks up her weapon and hands it back to her.

"Now you guys are free to leave. Its 7:58 already, so Its about time for you guys to head out and get something to eat. We'll talk a little more about your projects tomorrow." Jaune nodded as he sat up, and Ruby practically hugs her weapon as she does the same. "Be sure to think about what you want your projects to do and look like."

"Sure will!" Ruby says happily as she begins to leave.

"I'll do my best, but I'm honestly not sure what I want myself." Jaune admits and Nathan nodded in understanding.

"Just think about what your weapon lacks, and then something to compensate for that." Nathan suggests.

"I'll try." Ruby waits at the exit as Jaune finished speaking with Nathan. "We'll see you tomorrow Professor." Nathan nodded as he watched the two of them leave the shop. Once they were gone, he sighs in satisfaction. Dogmeat walks up beside him, having previously been lying on the floor not far away.

"I may only have two students, but honestly, maybe thats for the best. Gives me a lot of time to do one-on-one teaching." Nathan says to himself before he goes into his personal shop to work on his nearly finished experiment. It wasn't anything big or fancy, a simple test of his skills to make a transforming weapon. The experiment in question was lying on the weapons workbench, nearly ready for testing. It was in simple terms, a collapsable super sledge. The handle had been replaced by multiple black interlocking tubes that would collapse in on themselves, while the head had a small additional motor that would make it fold even more. It was all powered by lightning dust as well, making this not only a test to make a transforming weapon, but also one that used some form of dust.

The only thing left was to hook everything together and to make sure it wouldn't fly apart. As Nathan continued his work, Dogmeat began to sniff around, before coming upon a recently used crescent wrench. The German Shepard grabbed the tool in it's mouth, and walked over to his master with it, his tail wagging all the while.

"Now... where did I put that-" Nathan looked behind him, to the table he had set the crescent wrench down on to grab a box of bolts, only to see Dogmeat next to him with the tool in question in his mouth, his tail seemingly wagging because he knew what he had done. "Your getting too smart for your own good, you know that?" Nathan asked as he gently took the wrench before rewarding Dogmeat with a scratch behind his ears. "Now just a few more adjustments..." He continued as he used the wrench to tighten down on the head and motor connection points. When he was finished, the super sledge looked normal, only that it had an additional metal attachment below the rocket side of the head, and the handle was obviously interlocking, nearly eight different layers that would collapse in on each other when the signal was given from the handle.

"I guess I'll test it out real quick." He said as he lifted the hammer, and pressed a small button right above the rubber grip for the handle. The main shaft almost immediately shrunk down to it's smallest from, while the head folded backwards, making it more compact. "Alright, now for the reverse." He simply pressed the button again, and the same transformation occurred, but this time in reverse order, with the addition to the rocket end of the sledge coming to life from the fire dust stored inside. "Its a miracle Fire dust works so well with rocket tech." Nathan idly commented before he once again collapsed it, and laid it back on the table. "Welp, now that I know I can make something like that, I wonder what else I can make."

* * *

Later that night Nathan was about to turn in until he was stopped by a familiar face. Ozpin seemed to know just where he was, as the headmaster walked out of a hallway right in front of Nathan's path to his bedroom. Nathan was positive it was intentional as well.

"So how was your first class?" Ozpin asked innocently as Dogmeat came up to the headmaster, an expectant look on the dog's face. Ozpin easily understood, and lightly scratched behind the dog's ears, eliciting pleased tail wags.

"Easy enough. Just went over some safety and firearm basics. Just enough to get started. It especially makes it easy since I only have two students." Ozpin chuckled a bit at that last statement.

"Yes, I doubt most students will have much interest in an optional shop class when they have their weapons already crafted and combat ready. But others may just join to talk and discuss engineering and firearms." Nathan rose his eyebrow at that. _Either he has really good intuition, or he might know about Ruby. Then again, he is the headmaster._ "But I am glad you have found some students that are willing to attend your class. Our optional classes often don't get many attendees since students would much rather sped time in Vale than earning extra credit."

"I can attest to that being very true." Nathan said with a smile, even if the headmaster couldn't see it, he could certainly hear it in his tone. "But tomorrow I'll actually be working with them on designing a project. One wants to redesign his weapon almost completely, while the other could use a secondary means of fighting."

"A sidearm? A wise decision, but not a common one among hunters now a days. Was it hard to convince them?" Nathan shrugged his shoulders.

"They weren't thrilled, but they understood why they might need one. So I think It'll be fine. Anyways, thats about it for the first day, anything that needs to be done around the school?" Ozpin smirked, a smirk that Nathan didn't find promising. _Maybe I shouldn't have asked._ Nathan thought in slight regret.

"The thermostats seem to be stuck at a much too warm temperature in the combat arena. Apparently a particular student's semblance is to absorb electricity and lighting dust. long story short, the fight wound up frying the circuits to the thermostats."

"Let me guess, the combat arena is the place that receives the most damage?" Nathan asked sarcastically, and Ozpin gave a half-nod as he began to walk back down the hall he emerged from.

"Ever the observant one. I do hope you'll continue the good work." Nathan only shook his head, wondering just how much we was going to be visiting that place. That was another thing that specifically bothered him. Semblances and Aura. Aura was easy enough to understand, and he had one himself, the Pipboy somehow able to track the percentage of it. Semblances were a different manner. When he was told about them, he initially thought this world had some form of magic, but each Semblance is unique to the person, and each semblance can do anything from mediocre abilities like super strength or super speed, or others, like Glynda's are much more versatile, and in his own opinion, useful. He hasn't awakened his yet, but he highly doubted he really would. He preferred to rely on his weapons and armor more than some mystery magic that was supposedly coming from his soul.

"Yea, best to stick with what works. Aura is great and all, but I think we better stick to the basics, right Dogmeat?" His companion woofed in response. "Yea, thats right." At that, Nathan returned to his room for a good nights sleep.

* * *

Glynda walked briskly down the halls of beacon to her class, the combat and arena class. Hosting student spars and training sessions were always a cinch for her. Everyone seemed to respect and accept her word even if they didn't like it. That didn't matter to her as much as it mattered that the students learned something. She just hoped that today's classes would not be as hot as she thought they would be with the thermostats down. That Ms. Valkyrie broke them on the first day here. She received a firm reprimanding, reminding her and every other student that the arena is not some indestructible room for them to bash around as they saw fit. They needed to learn control as much as anything else. Then as Glynda opened the door to the arena, she stopped, immediately noticing the additional presence.

"Morning Glynda, Hope you don't mind, just going to replace what was broken." Nathan greeted as he finished screwing in one of the two thermostats in the room. "Just got done with the first one, just need to get the second one now." Dogmeat barked and approached Glynda, an apparent smile on his muzzle. The assistant headmaster couldn't help but give a small smile back as she reached down and rubbed his head.

"I didn't expect you to be up this early Mr. Sullivan, I must say I'm surprised." Glynda said as she approached him, an approving glance shot to him. "Is this all that was damaged?" She asked glancing at the visibly fried and burned old thermostat.

"Pretty much, the transformers and all were fine. It seemed like it tripped the breaker, so the thermostats were ruined, and the wires were fried, but thats about it. It must not of been too much voltage, or else there could have been quite a bit of extra damage to the surroundings." Nathan says somewhat slowly looking around at the burn marks across the room. "Well, the surroundings of the equipment I should say."

"Well classes will begin in about thirty minutes, do you believe you'll be done by that time?" Glynda asked, an even expression on her face as she turned toward her stand with notes and the fighting schedule on it.

"Trying to get rid of me so soon? And I thought we had something special." Nathan teased, as he turned his helmeted head towards her. Upon receiving her deadpan look, he chuckled to himself. "Don't worry. I started by replacing the wires, all I really need to do is replace the thermostats. Shouldn't take another ten minutes." Glynda nodded thankfully as Nathan finished with the last screw before he moved to the next one across the room. He still found it strange how this room used wall thermostats instead of simply having the controls in the headmaster's office or somewhere else. Although maybe there was something he was missing.

"So how did your first class go yesterday? Did you have many students?" Glynda asked Nathan as he worked.

"Does two students count as many?" Glynda nearly chuckled. "Honestly though I prefer having a smaller class. Gives me time to go over topics and terms individually with each student. Plus once they get started on their projects It'll give me more time to look over their work and help them... and of course, make sure they don't do anything dangerous." Nathan's response somewhat surprised Glynda, and she smiled at the genuineness he seemed to have.

"Hmm. Spoken like a true parent." She wasn't looking directly at him, but upon saying that, she could have sworn she saw Nathan freeze for a moment. He never responded to her at that, making her wonder if she had hit a sore spot. The two remained in silence as he finished up his work. Occasionally Dogmeat would fetch him a tool when asked, or come up to Glynda and beg for a head pat or two. As Nathan said his goodbyes and left with Dogmeat, Glynda realized he had not glanced back to her, only a verbal communication. Normally she would not mind, but she realized she had upset him somehow, and for some reason, that made her feel guilty.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **This is a shorter chapter, but I really didn't know what else I wanted to include in this chapter. I also realize I've been away from writing for far too long. Lots of things have come up, such as a new job, car issues, and having to use said car to pick up a family member from work everyday. I hope you guys can understand.**

 **Next chapter will hopefully be longer. I'm working on the next chapter of Blades now, and I'm working on the sequel chapter to The Worst Berserker. I hope you all can bare with me. Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and as always...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7- Experiments

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout or RWBY**

 **Experiments**

Night time at Beacon rarely ever had any major activity going on, save for the occasional late night conversation, last minute studying, or the... experimentation of some students. Especially since it was Friday, and the students didn't need to worry about going to classes the next day. Tonight, The teachers were busy grading papers, Ozpin was most likely drinking his night time coffee, the janitor was busy taking out the trash, the students were getting ready for bed, and one particular craftsman was busily working on his next project.

Nathan rewired the tesla rifle carefully, knowing that one short or wrong connection could spell disaster. Another reason he had Dogmeat stay in his room. Nathan looked over his altered tesla rifle carefully, double checking the connections with the lightning dust converter. The converter itself had replaced a good portion of the primary components of the rifle, considering it now required lightning dust to function rather than a fusion cell. It was required, as raw lighting dust, like all other forms of dust, is very unstable, and needed a special device to convert the raw lighting dust to usable electricity. The 'barrel' and weapon components that made it deadly were no different.

Nathan held up the weapon carefully, and walked with it to where the shooting range on school was, hoping that it would work the whole way there. Upon arriving there were a few students practicing with their weapons, but given just how colorful they all were, none truly stood out to him. He found an empty booth away from the other students and swiftly put up the paper target, which was sent to the very end of the range via the conveyer right above his head.

He readied his weapon, and aimed down his sights to the target. His helmet provided no real advantage or disadvantage, but he was used to firing with it on, so it's slight filter to his sight gave the target a reddish tint. He gently squeezed the trigger, and he could feel the weapon vibrate slightly as energy coursed through the coils, and yellow lighting sometimes sparked from the charging barrel as he continued to squeeze the trigger. Then all at once the energy that had been storing released in a powerful bolt of yellow lighting that surged for the target and proceeded to practically incinerate the paper target.

The other students stopped firing. Nathan felt rather small as he retracted the conveyer, and his smoking target returned to him. He took it down, and then walked out of the range as subtly as possible, the students peeking their heads out, watching him go by.

"Now thats a weapon." Yang said to herself as the armored guy left, his weapon still cradled in his arms. She had come out for some late night practice with Ember Celica, but now her and the rest of the students had their concentration broken upon hearing the loud crack of the lighting weapon. She activated her weapons, making them retract to their bracers form, indistinguishable from some form of large wrist bracelet. She then left the range, searching for the armored man.

She had occasionally seen him around the campus, often working on, or fixing something. She had originally taken him for an oddly dressed handyman, but now she figured he could be a hunter, or maybe a former hunter thats taken work here out of desperation. She wasn't sure, but she wanted to know.

She easily caught up to the man, his silhouette very unique even among Beacon's staff and student body. Oddly though his weapon wasn't with him. The green armor and blue jumpsuit underneath it still stood out to her, and now that she was closer, noticed the pistol holster on his belt.

"That was a pretty impressive display there bud!" Yang called out cheerfully, catching the man's attention, making him stop and turn around, his green visor looking at her. Yang wasn't effected by what would normally be an intimidating visage, but she had to admit, it could definitely be intimidating in the right circumstances. "Didn't know the helpers packed around so much heat." He cocked his head curiously.

"Helper? Oh yea, I guess you would get that impression huh? Im actually a professor, teaching the shop class." Nathan responded with a friendly tone, which caused the blonde haired student's eyes to widen slightly. She was a rather attractive young woman, and based on her rather exposing attire, and her confident posture, he took her as some kind of hotshot, or at least someone who was very confident in herself. _Still though, would it hurt you to cover up a little?_ Nathan thought to himself, trying to keep his eyes on hers. Thankfully he still had his helmet on.

"Shop class huh? Ruby's been going to that this past week. Didn't really understand why she went since she already knows everything she needs to, until she told me everything you teach." She gave Nathan a sly grin, before she held out her hand to shake. "Names Yang, I'm Ruby's sister and teammate."

"Nathan, resident shop class professor and general handyman... for now." Nathan responded, taking her hand and shaking firmly, surprised by her strength. Briefly he wondered if it was natural, or from her aura and or semblance. "Ruby's told me about you briefly, says you use, in simple terms, shotgun bracelets."

"Yep! Ember Celica is my pride and joy, these babies have gotten me out of more sticky situations than I can count." Yang said proudly, holding up her bracelets to show him. Then her smile dropped slightly as she gave him a curious look. "So tell me, what has Ruby been doing in your class? I imagine she already knows all the basics and stuff. She told me you know stuff about robots and stuff?" Yang asked, her hand twirling a bit for him to elaborate.

"You'd be correct, but at the moment, they're working on their first simple project. I doubt Ruby will have much trouble, in fact, she probably already knows exactly what she wants to make, but I'm taking it slow more for my other student's sake." Nathan gently explained, trying not to point out he only had two students. Yang simply smirked.

"You mean Jaune? Ruby told me he was the only other student." Yang's smirk only grew as Nathan remained silent.

"I don't feel like I should answer. Jaune is a good student though, and he seems to be coming along pretty well, just needs some help with some things." Yang chuckled a bit at that.

"You seem pretty all right for a professor, definitely not as stuck up as Glynda, or as... strange as Oobleck." She paused a moment, before she walked past Nathan, a grin on her face. "Glad Ruby's got a good Professor, make sure to keep her out of trouble all right?" she said as she walked away. Nathan crossed his arms as he watcher her saunter off.

"I'm pretty sure she'll be no issue." Nathan said calmly, while not an expert on giving guidance and teaching others, Ruby didn't seem like much of a trouble maker for as excitable as she could be sometimes. Both her and Jaune were coming along well with their projects, having developed a good design with his help, and were now in the process of actually making them. Although he was sure they were taking time off for the weekend. He sighed contently as he made his way to his room.

* * *

Saturday morning saw Nathan busying himself with his power armor. The plates of the X-01 were orderly set out around the impromptu power armor stand, and he was tinkering with the frame itself. Nathan carefully looked at the inside of the fusion core slot, taking some pictures with the provided school scroll, and measuring a few things. This was all part of what he called his 'conversion project' Which basically entailed converting necessary weapons and his armor to run off of Dust, or something else that he could find readily within remnant. The successful conversion of the tesla rifle gave the sole survivor to try the same with his power armor.

"The connections in here seem pretty standard. I just need to make a fusion core stand-in that runs off of Lightning dust. Of course..." Nathan then checked his measurements, and he looked at the shape of the fusion core, along with all the connectors he'd have to install. "...Thats the hard part. Making a custom fusion core." As he moved away from the stand he brought out some drafting paper, and began to design the basic shape of the fusion core. Despite everything he had done to improve the actual armor plates and mechanisms within them, Nathan had rarely worked on the raw frame of power armors, usually only doing so for maintenance.

As Nathan drew, a slight commotion drew his attention outside his shop, obviously students entering the classroom area to work on their weapons over the weekend. No doubt they were saying hello to Dogmeat, who he had left to more or less watch the room. Dogmeat was smarter than most would think though, and often the Shepard could tell when someone was up to no good. Then he heard something very peculiar.

"OH MY GOSH A DOG!? HE'S SO CUTE!" The loud shriek of girlish excitement caught Nathan off guard as he broke his pencil tip on the paper, and cursed silently. He sighed as he heard the same voice, although much quieter, begin to make baby like sounds, undoubtedly directed at Dogmeat. While not really on the job because it was Saturday, Ozpin had asked him to help any students that might want to work on their weapons during the weekend if he had free time. So Nathan figured he might as well go see what all the commotion was about.

As he stepped out of his shop he saw a few students minding their own business as they worked on their weapons, although two stood out. One was a black haired boy with strangely purple eyes, wore a green... suspiciously Chinese looking outfit, and sported a strange pink-streak in his hair. The boy was trying to talk some reason into the other student that caught his eye. She had orange hair, turquoise eyes, and sported a pink and white themed dress with a heart in the center of the shirt, exposing her... Chest.

Nathan shook his head. _Kids these days, where did we go wrong?_ Nathan thought somewhat sarcastically to himself as he approached the two, overhearing their conversation.

"Nora, we came here to tune up our weapons. Please stop petting the dog." Ren said in exasperation, watching his childhood friend continue to rub the dog's belly, who was thoroughly enjoying the treatment. He looked around to see there were still plenty of tables they could work with, signifying they wouldn't really be hurting if they didn't get right to work, but that was besides the point. He only vaguely recognized the dog, having seen him before with a strangely armored man who often worked around the school. Although that was it, even if the man was just a helper, Ren felt like they shouldn't just mess with the dog without his permission.

"Aw don't worry Ren, he loves it! Besides, that weird guy in the armor isn't around right now anyway."

"I don't mind you petting Dogmeat, but it would be nice to ask before you did." The two students froze, before they slowly turned their heads to meet the green-visored gaze of the very same armored man Nora was referring to. "Names Nathan, by the way. Resident Shop class professor." Their eyes went wide as the two of them seemed to realize what Nora had said right in front of him. At least Ren did anyway.

"She didn't mean it professor, she's just-" However, Ren was interrupted by his childhood friend.

"Can I pet your dog?" Nora asked innocently, her bubbly attitude and smile drawing a short chuckle from the professor. Ren sighed in relief at hearing that, thinking that the man had a good sense of humor.

"Sure kid, go ahead, Dogmeat could use a playmate." The bubbly student seemed to squeal a bit in delight as she scooped up the dog effortlessly, and proceeded to rub his belly, while holding him. "You're stronger than you look..." Nathan said under his breath, before noting the other kid was giving him an apologetic expression before approaching.

"Sorry about that professor. We didn't know, we kinda just thought..."

"I was a helper?" The kid's eyes widened as Nathan guessed correctly. "Don't worry, already happened once at least. So whats y'all's names? What brings you to the shop? Weapon tune up?" The kid nodded, and gestured to his partner.

"Yes, we haven't cleaned our weapons all week, and really haven't had the time to work on them either after the initiation. Being caught up with our new team and all that. My names Ren, and this is my partner, Nora." Nathan nodded, looking over to the bubbly girl, and Dogmeat, who seemed to be lapping up all the attention he was getting. He whistled, catching the dog's attention, and while reluctant, he broke away from Nora's constant petting.

"Aw man! What gives?" Nora complained childly, making Nathan chuckle goodheartedly. Dogmeat shook his head, before looking up to Nathan with his typical doggish grin.

"I think I'm going to head out for a bit and take Dogmeat with me. You kids are welcome to the shop while I'm gone." Ren nodded thankfully while Nora seemed even more upset.

"But I only got to pet him a little!" Nora complained, but Ren and Nathan only chuckled lightly at her complaint.

* * *

"Your aura has increased a total of around 21 percent since you've come here. Rather impressive considering all you've been doing are occasional sparring matches with Glynda." Professor Peach stated as she looked over a computer screen as Nathan waited patiently, while Dogmeat lied on the floor. "There have been a few instances of rapid Aura growth for those that unlocked it late, but those cases are rare and often not documented extensively. So you will be a remarkable subject for documentation in the future." Peach continued with a hint of excitement I her usually quiet voice.

Nathan rarely spoke to Beacon's resident nurse, but he had come to learn she was rather reserved and often times outright shy. Despite this, she was an excellent nurse, and cared deeply for the wellbeing of others. Thankfully Nathan never really needed to see her, but given his otherworldly status and the fact his Aura isn't as strong as most others, Ozpin had insisted he be checked on semi-regularly to make sure he didn't encounter any sort of sickness or disease his body just could not handle.

The sole survivor thought it was nice, and it certainly didn't hurt, but if he could survive a world 200 years after a nuclear apocalypse full of walking irradiated corpses and aggressive cancerous bears, he should be able to survive a different alternate version of the earth he knew. That's at least what he had surmised during his time here, despite all the incredible differences between his world and Remnant, no one here was terribly different from normal humans, even the faunas. The one thing that was undoubtedly different was the existence of Grimm, but given their bodies completely dissipate after death, it wasn't like they were prone to attract disease.

"So I'm a guinea pig now?" Nathan asked humorously, making the nurse turn to him with an apologetic look.

"O-Of course not , I would never treat you li-"

"Calm down, it was a joke." Nathan said with a light chuckle, which became stronger following the embarrassed flush to take Peach's face. The pink haired nurse swiftly closed the tabs on the computer pertaining to his health and gave a sigh, calming herself.

"Other than that, everything is perfectly normal . Is there anything else I can help with?" Peach's question gave Nathan pause. While it wasn't the first time he had been to her office, it was the first time he actually needed something other than for himself.

"Actually there is, I was wondering... can animals have Aura?" Nathan's question made Peach look at him with slight surprise and confusion, before she glanced over to Dogmeat.

"I see, well yes, animals can in fact have an aura, and I'm fairly certain that the process is identical to when a person unlocks their Auras. Although an animals Aura is typically fairly weaker than a humans. If you'd like me to, I could take a look at your dog to unlock his aura." Peach offered helpfully, to which Nathan nodded quickly.

Peach kneeled down to Dogmeat's level, gaining the german Shepard's attention while Nathan watched. He couldn't help but notice how the short skirt of the nurse uniform formed well around her bottom, giving him a rather defined view of her posterior. He couldn't help but stare. Something he had noticed while in Remnant, is that while everyone very much had differing personalities and quirks, he couldn't readily say that anyone he had met so far was unattractive.

Even before the Great War, Nathan remembered seeing and meeting quite a few unattractive or outright ugly men and women. Those that he became friends with seemed to embrace their ugliness, and even laughed with some of the jabs and jokes about them. But to him, he wouldn't doubt if such jokes didn't even exist in this world.

"Finished, Dogmeat now has an aura, but do please be careful, his Aura isn't even as strong as a newly formed human aura, so I doubt it'll be strong enough to handle more than a few shots." Peach said as she got up, and readjusted her skirt, as the fabric had threatened to heighten up as she stood up. She looked to Nathan to see him looking at her through his visor.

"I appreciate the help Peach, I'll be sure to let you know if I get any sniffles, or if Dogmeat needs his flea collar." Peach chuckled a bit as she waved it off.

"Of course, and its no problem, just be careful what you do, we wouldn't want our newest shop teacher to get sick now would we?"

"Of course not. I'll be seeing you." Nathan said as he stepped out of the doorway into the hallways of beacon. Peach simply waved as he left. As he stepped into the hallway though a familiar face greeted him, a slightly surprised expression on both of their faces.

"Ah, checking up with Peach again?" Glynda asked as she continued walking towards him, while he merely nodded, Dogmeat finding his place by his right. "Good, but it would be best to remember the spar we have scheduled for tonight. Your progress with your aura has been impressive, but if you wish to reach a huntsman's level, it would be best to continue to practice while using it." Glynda's talk was quick and almost analytical, as if explaining something new to someone who didn't know. Nathan sighed at this, having heard this kind of speech before.

"I've survived for nearly a year in a far more hostile environment than this without an aura, I'm sure I'll be fine. Unless..." A coy smile crossed his face, hidden behind his mask, and he leaned in close to the combat instructor, becoming a little closer than Glynda expected him to. "You just want to spend a little one-on-one with me?" Glynda could practically hear the smug smile on his face as she gave him a blank look.

"Hardly." Glynda said simply as she continued past, leaving him in his leant over pose. "Be ready, tonight I won't be going easy on you like I have been." That statement earned the blonde professor an odd look as Nathan looked back to her. _She's been holding back? But why? To test if I could even handle her at her easiest? Pretty cocky for such a stern attitude._ Nathan often didn't like to fight, but rarely he would get a sudden thrill at the prospect of facing a strong enemy. Such as when he faced Swan, the strangely dressed beheamoth, his first death-claw, or when he finally tracked down Kellogg. Although that last case had a lot more anger in the encounter, more akin to a battle frenzy. And Nathan suddenly got that sensation when he heard Glynda say those words.

* * *

Nathan decided to equip Kellogg's pistol along with his new collapsable super sledge, the rocket powered hammer hitting snugly on his left hip, with the revolver on his right hip. He entered the arena confidently, seeing Glynda setting up the screen above them to display their auras. He glanced to his left into the sea of seats to see professor Port and Oobleck were both in the 'audience'.

"Come to see the show?" Nathan asked as he walked towards the two men.

"More or less, We'd like to see what else your capable of since you've had your aura for a while now." Oobleck quickly explained before Port nodded in agreement with his friend.

"Plus its been a minute since I've seen Glynda truly fight, and she told me she wouldn't be going easy on you. She might have let you take her aura down a bit the first time you fought, but you won't be able to do that anymore. I guarantee it." Port said with a bit of a chuckle, obviously looking forward to what he expected to be a beatdown. "Plus, the area is open, if any of the students come by, they'll be able to see the fight."

"Perfect, at least I can amuse some passerby's then." Oobleck and Port chuckled lightly at Nathan's slight self-deprecation before Glynda stepped forward to them.

"Are you ready ?" Glynda asked, and Nathan simply nodded before he and Glynda walked to opposite side of the area, Nathan going through his revolver quickly as Glynda merely waited patiently. She glanced to the two other professors noting their expectant gazes. "Professor Oobleck, would you mind doing the honors?" The history professor merely nodded as he stood up. Nathan and Glynda stared each other down, each ready fro the signal.

"Begin!"

Nathan acted first as he drew the 44 from his hip, firing two shots toward Glynda as he ran to the left, the supersonic dust rounds aiming true. Glynda though held out her riding crop as a translucent, vaguely gold half sphere covered her front, the two bullets hitting the sphere and then curving around the 'shield's' surface, striking behind her harmlessly. _Thats new, but not entirely unprecedented considering what she's done before._ Nathan thought as he suddenly felt a similar feeling around him as he found himself being flung to another side of the arena. He turned in mid air, his legs facing the wall swiftly approaching him. He grunted as he absorbed the force of the impact through his legs, the aura around them helping his efforts. Then he was in free-fall.

Glynda watched as Nathan righted himself before he hit the ground, somewhat impressed with the show of dexterity as opposed to their first fight. She saw his hand raise half a second before two more shots fired from the large revolver in his hand, allowing her to side step, her aura making the movement near instant to the human eye. One bullet fired at her previous location, but Nathan quickly corrected and attempted fire at her again. She jumped up high, dodging another bullet as she hurled herself nearly ten feet in the air before she used her semblance in her left hand to surge towards Nathan. She held her riding crop to the side, preparing a kinetic blast to end the fight quickly.

Nathan was a bit shocked seeing Glynda's speed and reflexes. _She was going easy on me..._ Nathan thought as he took aim at her swiftly approaching form, and with only a second to act, he turned V.A.T.S. on, the small button under his wrist kicking his brain into overdrive as time slowed to a crawl when the specialized endorphins hit his brain. Glynda's rapid approach became sluggish to him. After what was to him a brief moment, but in reality only a few milliseconds, Glynda's body-parts were somewhat highlighted by percentages, signaling V.A.T.S. was finished booting up. He focused his vision on her riding crop, his muscles reacting to V.A.T.S by moving into a perfect targeting position. While the PipBoy predicted the shot to be a low chance of success, he was willing to take it given the small radiant ball of glowing energy following her 'Weapon'.

In the matter of a few seconds, several things happened. Nathan shot his last two around at Glynda's riding crop, the first striking her wrist, and the other hitting the weapon herself, knocking it out of her hand, causing her to lose focus. The energy she had built up returned to her in fear of the energy releasing into her side, but once she reached Nathan, Glynda attempted to use her other hand to kinetically blast him away, but he stepped to the side, withdrawing an oddly shaped device from behind him, and while holding it's handle, he pressed a button and it deployed into what she could only call a rocket-powered-sledge-hammer. She had little time to mull over this new information as Nathan, with speed boosted by his aura, reared back and struck her like a baseball, the hammer slamming into her chest as she lurched forward, the sudden stop knocking the wind out of her as her aura shined in protest.

She was flung back several feet, Glynda hitting the ground with a solid thud, while Port and Oobleck looked on in complete shock. Her Aura had gone down a solid 15% from that single blow, showing that even the strongest of huntresses and huntsman could be hurt if caught off guard. Nathan said nothing as he retracted his super sledge and re-loaded his pistol. Glynda got up, shook her head, and glared at Nathan. Nathan ignored the slight tingle at the back of his head from V.A.T.S., the endorphins just now leaving his system.

"What?" Nathan asked innocently as he spun the chamber in gun around, and aimed it at her again. Glynda user her semblance to draw her riding crop to her, but it was slow, and the weapon seemed shaky and loose as she brought it to her. _So it helps her focus her semblance? Interesting, something I can exploit._ Nathan didn't bother to use V.A.T.S. As he shot at the floating weapon, one fire round enough to throw the weapon to the side again. As Nathan trained the gun on her, Glynda opened her palm towards him and sent a surge of golden transparent energy to him, knocking him off his feet and sending his shot wide. By the time he had recovered, Glynda had retrieved her crop, and was beginning to lift him into the air. Nathan shot twice at her while he floated, but Glynda formed a rough kinetic shield in front of her with her other hand. The first shot impacted, and rather than sliding off, or being forced away, it caused the shield to ripple dangerously. The second bullet passed right through the rough barrier, and struck Glynda. She winced as the fire dust ignited against her aura, she felt little of the actual heat, but shot itself did force her to shift her stance.

* * *

"Jaune? Are you sure this is okay? Don't you think the professor might be a bit busy?" Pyrrha asked cautiously as her and Jaune walked the halls of beacon, the moon big and bright in the windows beside them. The young girl was a sight to behold with bright red hair, gold and red armor adorning her body, and bright green eyes. She had a somewhat worried expression on her face as she followed her partner to see the Shop Class professor about his design. They had been busy with homework and going out to Vale for supplies that he would probably need for his upcoming project. For some reason though, Jaune had decided to prioritize materials instead of solidifying his design with the professor. It had changed at least once every day, with the modifications never being quite to Jaune's liking. "Can't we wait till tomorrow?"

"Maybe, but he could be gone tomorrow doing something, and I know for a fact he's here, I asked a student, and they said a bunch of the professors had gone to the arena for something." Jaune said adamantly as he walked, a few unfinished blueprints in his hands. "I'm sure its nothing, he's probably just fixing something that was broken during class..." Jaune's statement died off as they heard the unmistakable sound of battle from the hall ahead of them.

"Is that coming from... the arena?" Pyrrha asked nervously as they both began walking at a slightly faster pace. They swiftly arrived and saw that the door was cracked, and after a brief moment of hesitation, Jaune opened it to look inside. "What do you see?"

"Its professor Sullivan and Goodwitch. They're... fighting!" Jaune said with shock as he stepped into the room slightly, with Pyrrha right behind him, and were just in time to see Glynda recover from a shot to the chest that had penetrated a shield made of her semblance.

In response, the combat teacher flung Nathan to the opposite side of the arena, Nathan righted himself for his legs to be facing the wall, before Glynda changed his course roughly, causing him to slam into the ground, imitating a belly-flop. She raised him up quickly, and slammed him down again, his aura taking the hits well. He attempted to stop the third slam by pushing his arms forward, and while it had stopped him briefly, the overwhelming force from Glynda's semblance caused him to once again hit the ground, albeit with no real impact. The translucent aura of Glynda's semblance dissipated, and Nathan rose to his feet quickly, briefly looking at the large screen to see that his aura was nearing red, while hers was only just nearing around 70%.

"I think its time I turn up the heat." Nathan said as he activated his Pipboy, and looked to Glynda. Only to see her panting, before she once again rose her riding crop. An atomized weapon emerged from his forearm while the pistol seemed to surge into the Pipboy. The weapon reconstructed easily, and he now held a tommy gun with a standard look and model, with the exception of the larger, sturdier, receiver, and the large drum magazine that was a solid red in contrast to the rather normal gun metal around it. "Say hello to my little friend!" At that statement, Nathan began to fire wildly at Glynda, mostly aiming at her feet and legs.

Glynda formed a solid shield in front of her, but as the first bullet impacted, the small, but still considerable, explosion caught her off guard. Each bullet that impacted resulted in an explosion, her shield rapidly began to waver. One or two would impact right at the edge near her feet, the small explosions causing her aura to flash just briefly. She jumped to the side and allowed her shield to dissipate, allowing a few more shots to pass where she once was, impacting the wall with small explosions.

"Combining Fire dust and gunpowder is the best Idea I've ever had." Nathan said proudly as he shot a short burst of bullets at Glynda, which she barely avoided. "Really amps up ol' Spray and Pray's normal explosive rounds." Glynda stared impassively at him, before she rushed forward, her riding crop in front of her, while her left hand was behind her.

"You should avoid displaying all your trump cards at once." Glynda said in a somewhat scolding manner as she rapidly approached.

"Who says I have?" Nathan's question made Glynda's eyebrow quirk before she was forced to create a deflecting shield against another hail of bullets. The shield guiding the bullets away instead of allowing them to impact directly. Nathan didn't stop as he switched to using one hand to hold the submachine gun, while he reached for his hammer. Glynda saw this, and wondered why exactly he was doing it out in the open. Then the solid click of a gun running out of ammo signaled that Nathan was out. "Welp... Thats not great." Glynda flicked the hammer out of his hand with her semblance, the weapon clattering across the floor to his right, while she prepared a solid burst of energy again.

Nathan ducked right as she reached him, the small orb of energy Glynda's semblance had stored going harmlessly over his head. He attempted to bash her with the butt of his gun, but she dodged it easily, twisting her body using a combination of her semblance and her aura. She stood upright and forced Nathan back a step with a weak push from her left hand while her right swirled her riding crop around, her semblance beginning to swirl like a small twister. Nathan rushed forward first though as he coked back his right fist, and quickly atomized his gun and replace it with another weapon. The new weapon appeared around his fist right as it struck, the bulky power fist's hydraulics kicking into gear as steam was forced from the device. The solid clack it made was further emphasized as Glynda's Aura flashed in protest. This didn't stop her crop from coming down on him hard as the swirling kinetic energy slammed into his side. He was sent sprawling while she was laid out on her back right as the buzzer announced the fight was over.

Once again Nathan looked to the screen, knowing the results. Glynda's aura was still in the blue, the meter showing roughly 52% while his showed around 15%. He sighed as he got up, wincing only slightly at the damage. He looked over to see Glynda up as well, but her face had a large red mark on it, and she seemed... amused.

"That was a far better performance than our last bout Mr. Sullivan. Either you've improved at a much greater pace than we thought, or you too were holding back before." Glynda said in praise as Nathan simply crossed his arms, an amused smirk crossing his hidden featured.

"Some of both. Although, I really hated to use a trick like that on such a pretty face." Nathan's statement made Glynda's expression go from amused to annoyed in an instant. "But in all seriousness, it is really useful having a aura. I suppose before I was just getting used to it, and I didn't know what you were capable of, so yea, I was holding back as well." Glynda nodded before she gently raised her riding crop, Nathan's hammer gently floating over to the sole survivor.

"Splendid performance you two!" Port's exclamation drew their attention to see both professors walking up on stage to talk with them. "I must say Nathan, that was an impressive display, and you did remarkably well considering Glynda's record. The only thing I can say is that you should continue your aura training with Glynda. The better you get at using it, the stronger and faster you'll become." Nathan nodded In thanks to his fellow professor.

"I did have a question though. That weapon you were using before, the 'Spray and Pray?'" Oobleck asked, and Nathan confirmed the name of the weapon. "What exactly did you do to create those effects? How did you get the gun to handle that kind of ammunition? Gunpowder and fire dust? While I'm not an expert on either, the combination is quite..."

"Volatile, I know. But thankfully this gun was made to use explosive ammunition. It only took a little more reinforcement to ensure it would handle the kind of chemicals inside the chamber. The combination ramps up normal explosive rounds to eleven, so it was almost too good of an opportunity to let it go to waste!" Nathan replied enthusiastically, to which the other professors smiled at his energy.

"I can attest. Those rounds could easily tear through aura if they were simply taken by someone. Even mine." Glynda said whole folding her arms. "Now, why don't we all get something to eat?"

As the professors made their way out, Jaune and Pyrrha could only stare in shock at the scene they had witnessed. "Whoa." Was all Jaune could say as he shifted slightly, getting over the sight of seeing two of his teachers sparring. "Glynda's scary, but I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of those exploding bullets." Jaune commented idly.

"No kidding." Pyrrha said, impressed by the speed and power that had been displayed, making sure to make a mental note of the kind of skills that had been displayed. "Lets head back. You can ask him in the morning, alright?" Jaune merely nodded as the two of them made their way back to the dorms.

* * *

"Whatcha doin?" Yang asked somewhat playfully at her younger sister as she looked over the reaper's shoulder at what the young girl was drawing while she was sitting by the table. Ruby smiled cheerfully as she held up the design for a new weapon. The weapon's design screamed Ruby, but was different as well. It was considerably smaller based on the measurements given, and was in the design of a pistol with a rose themed grip, slide, and even hammer. At the top was the name of the design, 'Rose Thorn'. "Making a new weapon?" Yang questioned as she stood up straight.

"Yep! Its the project for shop class, our professor wanted us to come up with something new and different to do, so instead of just modifying Crescent Rose again, I decided to make a secondary weapon! Just in case." Ruby added that last part somewhat sheepishly, still remembering the conversation with Nathan. Yang nodded in understanding before smirking.

"I guess, but why would I need a second weapon when I still have these guns?" Yang said cockily while flexing her biceps in a strongman pose. Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Maybe you can, but if I don't have Crescent Rose, then I'm basically defenseless... although If I could get it back then I wouldn't be." Ruby sighed as she placed the design sheet back down. "Although I kinda want to get into some of the more exciting stuff he's talked about." She then tapped her chin with her pencil in thought. Another voice made herself known after she said that.

"What exactly would a Shop teacher talk about that would get you excited? You talk about guns and the like a lot already. Surely you've had enough of it to a degree." Weiss's voice called out from her bed as she read a schoolbook, the title reading 'Grimm Biology in the modern age'. Ruby quickly spun around to see her partner with a face of unbridled enthusiasm.

"No way! I could never get tired of talking about weapons!" Ruby's face seemed to calm a bit as she looked to the side. "But when it comes to projects, I do prefer to be challenged a bit more. Which is why Crescent Rose is my weapon of choice. I like the difficulty of getting the mechanism and balance just right, after all, there aren't many that can wield and maintain a weapon like mine. Which is why I'm attending the class, he's hinted about a bunch of really neat stuff, but he's kinda had to keep it basic for now. I don't mind though." Weiss looked at her curiously, before she shrugged, continuing her reading.

"Why has he had to keep it basic?" Blake suddenly asked, her eyes drifting to their young leader while she, like Weiss, was reading a book on her bed, although this one had the title of 'The Man with two Souls'. Ruby looked down and held her arms behind her back as she answered somewhat quietly.

"I-Its just the program... he needs to go over the basics and everything first." Ruby said sheepishly, wanting to tell the truth, but also not wanting to give away her friend's challenges. Jaune had been struggling somewhat, but had not given up in his pursuit to improve his weapon and continue with the class, which was quite respectable in her opinion.

"Its because of Vomit Boy." Yang said with a knowing smirk, Weiss groaning while Blake looked confused. Ruby looked at her sister with a n irritated glare.

"Yang!" Ruby's whine only made Yang chuckle a bit as the blonde got a twoel and some toiletries together in her arms before she made to sue the shower.

"Vomit boy?" Blake asked, while Ruby sighed.

"Its Jaune. Apparently he gets motion sickness, and has sense earned the nickname of... Vomit Boy." Weiss explained with a slightly irritated tone, remembering the boy's constant horrible flirting and bad social skills. She didn't necessarily hate him, but she got quite annoyed with his antics and constant attempts to seduce her.

"Y-Yeah, but he's trying really hard!" Ruby defended, and Weiss simply looked back to her book with a quick 'I'm sure he is'. While Blake still seemed a tad confused before she shrugged and went back to her book. Ruby groaned as she lazily climbed up to her bed above Weiss's and opened up the recent comic book she had been meaning to read.

* * *

 **Author's notes.**

 **I'm alive! Two months gone, but I'm still here. Busy... but here. I'm sorry it takes so long for these chapters to come out, but I do think about these stories when I'm at work or doing errands, it sometimes just seems like there isn't enough time in the day to get the writing I want done. I know this chapter wasn't super long, but I do hope you liked it, especially the fight scene. Also, big thanks to Rainsfere for the help with this chapter he was super useful for pointing out the small stuff that I generally miss, and helped with fleshing out the chapter a bit more! As always, if you have comments or any general questions, feel free to review! It really helps me coming back. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and as always...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8- Hard Nut to Crack

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout or RWBY**

 **Hard Nut to Crack**

 **Monday**

Nathan nodded in approval at the plan Jaune had come up with, while not a perfect drawing, it was enough to get the idea of what he wanted conveyed. Thankfully it was simple, and wouldn't be too complicated, much like Ruby's design. But while her's was a completely new weapon, Juane's was a major modification to his sword. Currently he and the young man were inside of the shop class a few minutes earlier than usual, so Nathan could look over what Jaune had in mind.

"Not bad, and definitely something we can do here." Nathan said, handing Jaune back the papers. Jaune seemed happy that his design was doable, and was certainly eager to get started. "And honestly, as long as you've remembered everything we've been going over last week, we can get started immediately. As soon as Ruby gets here, we can begin work on both of your projects."

"Awesome! So, I guess there are a bunch of spare parts and materials that you have somewhere?" Jaune asked while looking around the shop to find such materials.

"Yep, but they're all in my shop at the moment. I'll get them out whe-" Right as he was about to say it, the doors to the class slammed open and Ruby rose excitedly entered the class.

"I have arrived!" Ruby exclaimed happily, and both Jaune and Nathan looked at her oddly for a moment, at which she got a bit sheepish. "I mean, uh, present." She laughed nervously as she approached them and her seat.

"Alright, since both of you are here, and since it is the beginning of the new week, we can all get started on your projects. You two get seated, and I'll get the components." Nathan said as he got up and entered his personal shop while Jaune and Ruby got seated. Dogmeat exited the other shop as Nathan entered and approached Jaune.

"Hey boy, how are you doing?" Jaune asked as he reached down slightly to pet the Shepherd, Dogmeat panting happily at the contact. Ruby reached over in her seat, but couldn't quite reach Dogmeat. Thankfully he seemed to know what Ruby wanted, and moved from Jaune's seat to Ruby's. She smiled gleefully as she began to love the dog, and his tail wagged eagerly.

"Aww who's a good boy!" Ruby cooed as she scratched behind Dogmeat's ears, eliciting a happy bark from him. Jaune seemed a little miffed that Dogmeat had left, but then the door to the other shop re-opened, and Nathan came out with a large burlap sack of clinging materials. Ruby's attention went to Nathan as he entered, and proceeded to place the sack on the ground between the two students. "Oh I can't wait!" Ruby said excitedly, eagerly watching as Nathan undid the string on top, and opened the sack to reveal... a bunch of junk. Jaune and Ruby's faces instantly switch to those of confusion as the looked at the sack full of rusted fans, used cans, duct tape, old dust canisters, and much more.

"Um. Professor, what is all this?" Jaune asked curiously as he looked at the sack full of junk. Ruby looked just as skeptical as her eyebrow rose to an uncomfortable looking level.

"This... is what you'll be making your weapons out of."

* * *

Ozpin chuckled to himself as he saw both Miss Rose's and Mr Arc's reaction to Nathan's unorthodox method of crafting. He had wondered just what the other worlder might come up with when it came to teaching his students, and while he expected the projects that he heard they had been assigned, the method of making those projects was certainly different. He quickly changed to several other camera views around the campus, watching his student and staff go about their day.

A single chime rang out in his office, indicating the elevator had opened. He gave a quick glance to see it was Glynda. At first he was tempted to simply go back to viewing the security feeds, or hide that to pretend he was doing something more productive, but then he saw her face. _Somethings wrong._ Ozpin thought to himself as Glynda continued to approach, her scrunched brow and troubled face still evident. Considering she had been reviewing the reports being made across the four kingdoms, that definitely wasn't a good sign.

"Something the matter?" Ozpin asked curiously, already suspecting the answer.

"Of course. If its not Grimm attacks, its the White Fang." Glynda said, her face becoming sour upon mentioning the terrorist organization's name. Ozpin could already tell where this was going. "We've discovered a White Fang storehouse of some kind in the outskirts of Vale's territory. And currently all hunters and huntresses In the area are busy with Grimm. I've asked them if they could spare any time, but it seems as though there is a Deathstalker nest in the area, and they've been busy eliminating Grimm." Glynda explained quickly, making Ozpin hum thoughtfully.

"Do we know what they're keeping in that storehouse?" Ozpin asked, taking a look at a copy of the report Glynda sent, and began to read over it himself.

"Nothing concrete, but if I were to wager, I'd say it was all that dust they've been stealing the past few months." Glynda said, speaking aloud. "Whatever they're planning to do with it, I imagine quite a bit of the dust is going here."

"Your probably right, but if all of our hunters in the area are busy, we may have to ask his help with this one." Ozpin said, standing up and looking out the dome window of his office, a cup of coffee in hand.

"But he was on a mission already wasn't he?" Glynda asked, already knowing who Ozpin was referring to. "Besides, the facility was supposed to be pretty big, are you sure he'll be able to handle it on his own?"

"He is on a mission, but I have a feeling it won't be too much longer before he's finished with it." Ozpin replied as he took a sip of his coffee, and then cast his gaze down to one of the buildings on site, the one he knew Nathan was currently using to teach his class. "And I wouldn't worry about him not being able to complete the mission, as we've got some back up here to send." Glynda rose an eyebrow curiously, wondering what exactly he meant. Then she realized what he implied. _Nathan's classes are basically extra-curricular, and while his class is official, we could suspend it for any reason we wanted. The whole reason we got rid of the class was because of the budget at the time._ Glynda thought, and then cast an unsure look to Ozpin.

"Are you sure that's wise? I mean, in practical terms, he's just unlocked his aura." Glynda said, an attempt to dissuade Ozpin from his choice of 'backup'. Ozpin merely smirked as he turned back to her.

"Don't worry, I think our guest has a few more tricks up his sleeve that he has yet to use." Glynda merely sighed, recognizing that look, and knowing that Nathan might be getting into something that was more than he bargained for.

* * *

 **Friday**

Nathan sighed in both satisfaction and frustration as Ruby and Jaune both left the classroom. It had taken a few days to teach both of them how to properly use junk and scrap it in order to make usable materials, especially Jaune, who had at one point, nearly scalded himself with molten steel. The small forge within the classroom was rarely used because it was reserved for emergency repairs when a major part of a weapon's components had been compromised, however since they were both making their projects from scratch, it was perfect for their uses.

It had also come in handy for Nathan himself, allowing him to create custom parts and mechanisms that he was rarely able to do in the wasteland. This had given him several ideas, including his ongoing project of trying to re-create a fusion core powered by dust. Other ideas were still up in the air, since Nathan still had to be ready for class, and help around the school when he could.

Thankfully that had been a minimum, and most of the stuff he fixed remained that way. Dogmeat came up to him and placed his head in Nathan's lap, the look of 'I haven't been pet in a while' on his face. Nathan chuckled as he rubbed the dog's head. "Your getting spoiled." He said simply, but did not cease his petting. At least not until his scroll lit up with a call, and the ID on the face of the device indicated that the headmaster wanted him. "Welp, time to see whats up with doc." Nathan said as he picked up the scroll and answered it. "Nathan speaking." He said almost mechanically.

"Hello Nathan, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming up to my office? I have something important to discuss with you." Ozpin said simply, and Nathan glanced around at the still uncleaned classroom. Over the week it had gotten messier and messier little by little, and he had made it a point to clean it up at the end of the week, but he supposed it could wait till later.

"Sure thing Ozpin, I'll be right up." Nathan responded cheerily as he got up from his chair.

"Excellent, see you in a bit." Ozpin said before hanging up his phone. Nathan gave Dogmeat one more pat before he made his way to the door.

"Stay here Dogmeat, and watch the shop while I'm gone, okay?" Nathan asked his canine companion, and while the dog did look a little disappointed at being left behind, the Shepard sat right in front of the desk, watching his master leave. Nathan closed the door and made his way down the hallway to Ozpin's office, noticing a few students walking around. He smiled as he noticed Ruby and her team, Yang the only other he recognized as they seemed to be discussing something as they made their way to the transports to Vale. He put his gaze forward again as he continued.

As he walked, Nathan began to theorize on what his first shifting weapon would be. Ruby's Scythe/sniper rifle combo certainly gave him a few ideas, but nothing that would be practical for him in the field. Especially if he used his power armor. He pushed the button to the elevator, briefly breaking those thoughts from his mind. _What exactly does Ozpin want with me? Maybe he needs me to pick up some stuff? Or another Grimm attack?_ Nathan thought as the Elevator quickly ascended. _I hope its not because of how I'm making the kids make their weapons. I'm just trying to teach them how to improvise._ Nathan's train of thought stopped as he reached the office, the elevator doors opening to reveal both Ozpin and Glynda. The former in his desk chair, with the latter preparing another coffee cup. Nathan walked into the room, Ozpin's pleasant smile allowing him to think that this wasn't about his teaching methods.

"Nathan, please, have a seat. I have a proposition for you that you might find appealing." Ozpin said as Nathan sat in a chair opposite him, and Glynda sat down a cup of coffee for him. He nodded his thanks as Glynda went back to her normal position of sitting just to the side of Ozpin.

"Alright then, I'm all ears. Does it have to do with me potentially going back to earth?" Nathan asked curiously as he took a sip of the coffee, surprised that it was brewed exactly to his liking.

"Unfortunately, no. While I'm sure you are very eager to get back to your world, I have as of yet found nothing that pertains to other-worldly or interdenominational travel. Even Atlas's records have little more than theories on such a subject." Ozpin admitted, and while Nathan was a tad disappointed about that, he still had hope he would make himself a way off of here. "Rather, the offer is one of huntsman work. While I know you are still teaching your class, I would also remind you that our records identify you as an official huntsman. While I've tried my best to fill in some of the gaps with generic information, your mission record, or rather, the lack of one, may cause some suspicion if others investigate. Not only that, but you will of course be paid for your work."

Nathan hummed as he sipped his coffee. _Another mission huh? Well he has a point about the whole lack of missions thing. There's more than just Ozpin and the other teachers that can access my records if they want to. Plus, I'll get a little more cash to use for dust and materials if I want._ Nathan thought as he shifted his gaze to the window for a moment. _Although it would suck to just leave Ruby and Jaune on their lonesome, especially since they've really gotten into making their projects._ Nathan's gaze went back to Ozpin, the headmaster's gaze never seeming to leave him.

"How long will I be gone?" Nathan asked, and to his surprise, Ozpin's gaze became one of understanding.

"It honestly depends on how long it will take you and the other huntsman to complete this mission, although with the two of you, I doubt it will take long at all." This caused Nathan's eyebrow to raise skeptically.

"Other huntsman?" Nathan inquired, and this time Glynda took the chance to speak.

"Of course, while we are certain your capable in a fight, we don't want you to become overwhelmed, and most huntsman operate with backup of some kind anyway..." Glynda said, her tone becoming somewhat distant, if not distasteful, as if remembering something unpleasant. "...So you won't be operating this mission alone. But to be honest, it will be more like your _His_ backup. Gods knows he needs someone to watch his back."

"Okay then..." Nathan said, slightly more wary of who he was about to partner up with. After a brief moment, he made up his mind. "I'll do it. Let me know when I have to head out, if possible, I'd like to let my students know." Ozpin nodded, and had a pleased grin on his face as he did so.

"It will most likely be at the end of this next week. He currently is en-route to the location, and has some errands to run in that time." Ozpin explained, making Nathan nod, understanding that, taking note of the time he had to prepare before his trip.

"So whats this guy's name anyway?" Nathan asked curiously, his face a mix of caution and curiosity based off Glynda's words. Ozpin only smirked as Glynda sighed, seemingly in frustration or acceptance, Nathan wasn't entirely sure.

"Your future Partner's name is Qrow Branwen."

* * *

Evening came upon the eastern Valen countryside as a bullhead flew over the landscape, the modern vehicle a stark contrast to the mountainous woods below and around it. It dipped low at the base of a mountain to a small clearing of trees barely visible from the sky. The forest floor seemed to welcome the bullhead, and the various marks on the ground indicated this was not the first time a bullhead had landed here. As the engines died down, a small posse of masked men and women all approached it, all of them in an identical garb consisting of a large white jacket and hood that went down to above their knees in spikes cut into the jacket. It was covering up the basic dark garb they all wore, and the red symbol of a vicious looking panther with three large claw marks behind it a clear indication that these were members of the white fang.

The bullhead's side door opened and a metal plank extended from the side down to the ground, allowing the person exiting an easier time leaving the vehicle. The sound of heavy boots on that same metal walkway made itself known as a large man exited the bullhead. He was a rather rough, if not burly looking individual, having a well groomed chin beard with side burns, and what would normally be a long sleeved duster, with it's sleeves rolled up revealing hairy, dense looking arms.

"Mr. Hazel." One of the white fang members said as Hazel approached. "We've been waiting on you, Lieutenant Gregory is ready with the report." Hazel only grunted in affirmation before he and the white fang members made their way further into the forest. They walked for a few minutes in silence, none of them bothering to make conversation. Hazel let his eyes drift around him, noticing there were no Grimm in the area, even despite their distance from what would be considered a 'safe proximity' from Vale. The White fang had done a good job in keeping the area clear, even if that meant the area was more visible to those that might want to sabotage the operation.

"We're here." The same white fang member from before spoke up, making Hazel once again focus his attention to the front, and catching eye of the large warehouse in front of him. Despite it's size however, it was well covered, as the large trees at the edge covered a good portion of the roof, and what little was visible had been painted a myriad of greens with some brown to give the indication of nothing there from an aerial view. Various white fang members were walking around the warehouse, with several guards stationed along the sides of the building. Their group all approached the side of the building and went through some metal double doors that acted as the main entrance.

The walls of the office area in the warehouse were a dull brown, and as Hazel walked through it, he saw a few posters and indications that this was still a white fang location, but not as many as he might have suspected. Soon enough they approached a pair of wooden double doors and opened them to reveal a surprisingly well kept office. There was a bear faunas in a standard white fang uniform with the exception he wore no sleeves, revealing his muscled arms. The faunas also had no mask on like the others, revealing his sharp features. He was currently writing something out as Hazel and the other members walked in.

"Mr Rainart, Welcome." The man said calmly, his voice deceptively gentle for his build. "The rest of you can leave us. I need to speak with our guest privately." The other members nodded before they left and closed the doors, leaving Hazel alone with the Lieutenant.

"So, has everything been going according to plan?" Hazel asked a bit impatiently, his gravely voice cutting the air. He was obviously not thrilled about being here, but despite this, the Lieutenant did not seem to break his calm gaze.

"Why yes actually, originally we were uncertain how effective our operations would be so far away from Vale or any other major kingdom, after all it is hard to find large quantities of dust and weapons outside of major population areas." He paused for a moment, apparently remembering something from that time. "Thankfully though, the strategy with hijacking deliveries to and from Vale, and far away from this location, I can say we are right on, or even ahead of our schedule." Hazel's eyebrow lifted slightly, but gave no other indication that he believed or didn't believe the Faunus's claim.

"So, theres enough supplies for the attack on Vale?" Hazel asked, and received a rather confident nod from the lieutenant.

"Oh yes, and enough for any unforeseen events as well. What we have now should be able to supply the attack, and if all goes according to plan, we'll have twice as much by the time it actually takes place." The lieutenant continued, but his confidence was not reflected in Hazel, if anything, the lieutenant's words seemed to make the burly man even more suspicious.

"We'll see. As you probably know, I'll be staying here for a few days to make sure everything is going well personally." Hazel said, his eyes scanning the office area as he said this.

"Of course, of course, we have a bunk already assigned to you." At that, the lieutenant stood up, his height just a bit shorter than Hazel's own imposing figure. "I'll show you there." At that he began to leave the office, and Hazel followed him, his skeptical expression turning to a tired one. _I hope what he says is true, I'd hate to have to report something bad to her. She's been patient thus far, but even I can tell that she's been wanting to move on from simple dust thievery, even if it is necessary. And Gods knows I don't want to be the one to break any bad news to her._ Hazel thought nervously, but never showed it in his face as he continued to follow the lieutenant.

* * *

"You've been here for quite a while... You waiting on someone?" The bartender asked, his face showing a slight bit of concern as he studied the groggy looking man on his bar. The Bartender had a thick black mustache, and well groomed hair, this on top of his striped button-up shirt made him look rather dapper in the bland, almost run down establishment around them. Only a few others were in there considering the time of Night, and the man on the counter looked to be the worst drinker of them all. He was a rather lanky man, and had a roguish appearance, the stubble that formed his five'o clock shadow emphasizing his rough appearance. His black hair was rather spiky, and the small red cloak on his back tattered, with a large angular sword underneath it. His clothes consisted of a white and gray jacket that tapered to a point at the back, with a grey collared undershirt, with black pants and fine black shoes.

"You could say that..." The man answered, his rough voice cutting through the air like a jagged knife. "...but the guys late." He picked his head up and stared at the shot glass in front of him as if it had just insulted his mother. "Another one..."

"As you wish Mr. Branwen." The barkeep said with tiredness in his voice as he brought out the bottle of whiskey to pour Qrow another shot. Once the brown liquid had filled the small glass, the doors to the bar opened gently. Causing a few of the patrons to glance that way, only for their faces to scrunch up in scrutiny. Qrow noticed this, and while he normally wouldn't bother looking, this was the place Ozpin told him to meet his temporary 'partner'. _Well, if everyone else is looking at the guy kinda funny, he must stand out._ Then he turned around to be met with something he honestly had not expected. He couldn't suppress his groan of annoyance and exasperation.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

* * *

 **Moments Earlier...**

Nathan had switched out his vault jumpsuit for the green army fatigues that could fit underneath his armor, given the nature of where he would be meeting his 'contact' he didn't want to stand out too much. Although that would be difficult considering he would still be wearing his combat armor, and would be taking his power armor. While it might be overkill, he was never one to be caught with his pants down if he could help it.

After the bullhead had dropped him off near the small town where he would be meeting his target, he decided to find a place for his power armor, that way he wouldn't have to take it all the way into town. Thankfully there was an abandoned junkyard on the outskirts of the town where he hid the armor, making sure to remove the fusion core before he left it. Then as he walked into the town proper, he caught site of the name. _Valenwood huh? Real creative..._ Nathan thought as he searched for the bar he was supposed to go to. Thankfully the place wasn't very big, and he quickly found the bar. Appropriately named, _Valenwood Saloon, someone needs to get these guys a better name designer or something..._ Nevertheless he pressed forward and entered the building, and noticed that there were only a few patrons, but he had drawn their attention. There was another man sitting at the bar directly in front of him, with his back turned, showing Nathan the tattered cape he wore. Then the man glanced behind him.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." The grave sounding voice said as the man fully turned around to face Nathan. Given his appearance, the sole survivor surmised that this was Qrow Branwen, and given his expression, was not particularly amused by the armor he wore. Or at least Nathan assumed so, and he already found himself slightly bothered by the man. He strode forward and stood in front of Qrow, the huntsman now fully tuned around with a look of disinterest.

"You must be Qrow." Nathan said, trying his best to sound polite to the man, and while he couldn't smell anything because of his mask, he wouldn't be surprised if the man in front of him reeked of alcohol.

"Nathan huh? Oz told me you were different in how you dealt with situations, but I honestly wasn't expecting this. So whats with the get up anyway?" Qrow asked as he turned back around to the bar, Nathan joining him on his right, and taking off his helmet. Qrow glanced at him and let out a small chuckle. "You look like me, but younger." At that, Nathan actually smirked a bit, and then noticed the bartender's expectant gaze.

"Just a beer please." Nathan said and the bartender nodded before he swiftly grabbed a drink from a nearby cooler. Nathan nodded as he took the cold glass and brought it to his lips. The bartender noticed the purposeful gaze from Qrow, and went to the other side of the counter, knowing when to take a hint.

"Listen, I'm sure Oz gave you the details, and I'm definitely thinking we should attempt to infiltrate the warehouse and try to get to whoever is running the operation. If we can get to him, subdue him, and get him somewhere we can interrogate him, we can learn exactly what he's been doing there, and how to get to any potential business partners of his." Qrow explained in a hushed tone, making sure not to talk too loudly, that way the other patrons wouldn't eavesdrop. Although judging by their distant looks or their mannerisms, it was doubtful they would be working for anyone.

"Thats a good idea." Nathan said, and Qrow was a bit surprised at his readiness to accept the plan. Most of the time when he worked with these soldier types, they seemed rather hesitant to accept any form of plan that wasn't made by them or one of their higher ups. _Although theres no real indication he's part of any military based on his attire, no symbols or anything... except for his fatigues underneath that armor, and I don't recognize that flag..._ Qrow thought as he looked to the man in question. "But is there any reason for the building or whatever to stay... built?" He asked with raised eyebrow.

"Didn't I just tell you we should try to sneak in?" Qrow asked with slight irritation in his voice.

"And wouldn't it be easier if you had a distraction and the guards were focused on something else" Nathan's question caused Qrow to pause, before his eyebrows rose with shock.

"What exactly are you implying? You don't have that kind of firepower to take on a whole warehouse of people... or do you?" Qrow said tentatively, knowing from experience that he probably shouldn't underestimate people he knew nothing about.

"I actually probably do. I'll be the first to admit I'm not the greatest when it comes to stealth, but what I am good at is drawing a crowd and dealing damage. I'll distract them while you track down their leader. Most of their big shots are probably going to come after me, and if your quick enough you'll intercept the boss while he's either trying to escape, or get to me. Whatever kind of person he is." Qrow mulled over the prospect for a moment, before he nodded a few times.

"Yea... I think that'll work. But before you go in there, how exactly are you going to take them all on by yourself? Something to do with your semblance right? Ozpin said you could materialize weapons and stuff?" Nathan nodded while taking another swig from his bottle. _At least Ozpin was nice enough to not tell everyone he knew, Qrow does seem like a good guy though, if I wind up working with him more, I might tell him._ Nathan thought, before he sat up, taking the beer with him as he set some lien on the table.

"I'll show you." And at that, Nathan left the bar, with Qrow following behind, a curious expression on his face.

* * *

Two White Fang guards sat on a few boxes not far away from where they were posted, some playing cards set up on a box between them. A light was casting an orange glow above them that was set up on the outside of the warehouse. One had a rather confident smirk, while the other had a deadpan expression. The one with the confident expression threw down his cards in an exaggerated flurry.

"Straight flush! Read it and weep!" The confident one said, a wolf tail clearly visible on his backside. The one with the deadpan expression merely laid his cards out as well, a very clear full house on the table now.

"Full house." The deadpan one said, a hint of a smirk crossing his features, the fox tail behind him ruffling slightly. The wolf faunas was about to go onto some kind of tirade before something caught his ears, it had caught the other member as well as he looked out to the forest, hearing a faint metallic thumping sound. They both quickly grabbed their rifles, and kept their eyes on the edge of the forest. The first one to spot anything was the fox faunas. "Over there." He said, seeing something glowing and red moving towards them. His partner looked as well, and slightly paled upon seeing the two glowing insectoid eyes moving for them.

"A Grimm?" He asked, slightly unnerved at how heavy the footfalls sounded as it neared.

"No... it sounds metallic, so either someone is playing a prank, or this guy is really armored." The fox faunas said while aiming his rifle to where the red eyes were. A large shadowy frame now being visible, if still slightly blocked by the tree line. Once it broke said line, and came into the light, both white fang members looked slightly shocked at the large robotic-looking form. "Atlas."

"What!? Atlas, here!?" The wolf faunas yelled fearfully, but the sound of much faster footfalls drew his attention as the robotic figure suddenly began sprinting towards them. "Oh Fuc-" he was cut off as his partner began to fire, the fire dust rounds igniting harmlessly against the metal frame of their opponent. The wolf faunas began to fire as well, but his fire rounds served no better. They had been equipped to fight Grimm, and if necessary, people. Not robots.

They both rolled out of the way as the armored figure attempted to slam into them, but it was quick to find it's target, focusing on the fox faunas. He ignored the rounds slamming into him and grabbed the faunas by the neck, before slamming him into the side of the warehouse, a sizable cracked dent formed in the concrete, and the man fell to the ground, unconscious. The wolf faunas stopped firing, and turned tail to warn other, but multiple shots impacted his back. His aura broke, and more rounds imbedded themselves into him, causing him to fall to the ground, swiftly bleeding out.

"Well, lets hope that did the trick." Nathan said to himself, before he reloaded the assault rifle in his hands. He glanced to his core indicator, and saw that it was at roughly 70% charge. Considering he had started at 75% when he first came to the town, it was rather comforting to know the few efficiency improvements he made while at beacon had worked. Then he heard sirens begin to go off, and spotted a camera on the edge of the building, looking right at him. "Alright Qrow, do your thing." Nathan mumbled, before he stepped up to the door on the side of the building, and entered.

* * *

Qrow watched as several guards ran from their assigned stations to take care of their uninvited guest, many of them wielding rifles or submachine guns, but none of them seemed to notice his presence as he hid inside of a closet within the warehouse. He smirked as he carefully left the closet, sneakily making his way further into the offices of the warehouse.

"Not bad kid." Qrow said to himself as he swiftly made his way down the halls, and checked the various rooms around him, and on the rare case he would find a member of the white fang, the veteran hunter would easily dispatch of them, and often hid their forms somewhere where they couldn't easily be found just in case there were people behind him. He stopped his search as a pair of double doors ahead of him began to open, and he was forced to hide inside of the bathroom on his right to avoid being spotted.

"I guess its a good thing I'm here." The gruff voice was distinct, and Qrow recognized it immediately, his eyes widening in shock at hearing it. "I'll take care of our little guest. You stay here." Hazel said, his voice growing louder as he kept walking down the hall. _Why the hell is Hazel Reinhardt here!?_ Qrow thought worriedly, already trying to come up with a way to avoid fighting the larger man.

"I can help though, and you know it." Came another voice, gentler, but still filled with resolve. Hazel's footsteps never stopped.

"I said stay." Hazel's footsteps moved past the bathroom door where Qrow was hiding, and he could practically feel the frustration behind the door, coming from the other man. Thankfully a door far away closed, and Qrow could no longer hear the sound of Hazel's footsteps, but did hear the distinct sound of explosions coming from the same direction. _At least Nathan's still active, but even with that exoskeleton of his, Hazel isn't going to go down easily. I need to subdue this other guy fist, and then catch up with Nathan._ Qrow thought as he suddenly heard the other man rush back into his office, only to storm back out again. Knowing he was trying to get to Hazel, Qrow burst out of the bathroom, the door slamming into the white fang member. Thats when Qrow caught sight of the bear faunas, and what he was holding in his hand.

"Sorry pal, looks like your fight is with me." Qrow said, brandishing the large, broad, sword on his back, it's angle and shape almost resembling a giant thick box-cutter. The faunas snarled as he faced the veteran hunter.

"Qrow Branwen. What an honor It is to fight you. I'll be sure to find a nice place to hang your head when I'm done." The large faunas said, as he pulled the cord on the chainsaw in his hands, the large wood cutting machine speeding up dangerously.

"Well, its the thought that counts." Qrow said with a smirk.

* * *

Nathan continued to fire, taking out several White fang members as they rushed him, the assault rifle doing wonders. It wouldn't take long for their aura to break, and one or two shots later, and they were down for the count, either dead, or in too much pain to fight back. He honestly felt a twinge of guilt as he reloaded his rifle, the opposing force's shots doing little more than scratching the paint on the X-01's plating. But quickly remembered this was a terrorist organization that regularly murdered people and bombed factories and stores just to get a point across.

Two more white fang members fell at his feet after he used his fists to take them out when they got too close. Nathan had lost count of how many he had taken on, but it had to be somewhere close to 40 now. It seemed as though they kept coming as well. Although part of that could also be because he had been on the move since he entered, destroying or confiscating crates of dust and equipment. It was extremely dangerous to destroy volatile dust, especially fire and lighting, but Nathan was doing his best to destroy the equipment, and store the dust in his Pipboy. Unfortunately, he couldn't store too much more before the Pipboy hits it's limit, even with the power armor providing a bonus. Then several of them threw up some kind of hand signal, and the white fang stopped firing, in response, Nathan did the same. _This doesn't look good._ Nathan thought as he turned towards where White fang members seemed to part, forming a passage way. And who stepped through that corridor of people shocked him.

"So, what exactly was your plan here?" The new comer's gravely voice broke the silence, his large and intimidating figure standing above the rest, easily matching the X0-1's height. "Come in here, wreak havoc and then leave? A smart plan considering the Grimm would be more attracted to this place than they already were." The large man said, slowly coming closer to Nathan, who in turn, raised his rifle. Although the man did not stop his slow walk, some of the white fang members smirking confidently now that their reinforcements had arrived. "Unfortunately for you, that won't be happening." The man said dangerously while cracking his knuckles. "The rest of you, grab whatever you can and evacuate. This location's been compromised."

"I don't think so." Nathan said, and immediately open fired, all shots directed at the man's face. He recoiled from the shock, apparently not expecting the sudden barrage, but his Aura held strong. Nathan changed targets, and began to fire after the white fang members, managing to knock down a few before he was rudely interrupted by a fist colliding with the left side of his helmet. But to Nathan, it felt like he had just been struck by a Deathclaw. He recoiled, the armor holding strong, but he had not expected a mere human fist to produce such an impact. The man reared back his fist again and struck Nathan in the side, forcing the sole survivor to focus his attention on the burly man. "Alright, so you aren't just all talk." At that, Nathan retaliated with a punch of his own, meeting the other man's hand. The sound of metal hitting flesh resounded in the area, a solid 'smack' echoing slightly as the large man blocked the power armor's fist with his bare hand.

* * *

The revving of a chainsaw cut through the air as the Lieutenant struck at Qrow again, who easily dodged it, even within the cramped corridors of the offices. The experienced huntsman counter attacked by bringing his weapon down hard on the lieutenant's shoulder, his aura flaring up dangerously. The white fang member growled, and attempted to strike back, this time his weapon was parried, the sword and chainsaw clashing, sparks flying off the collision.

"This the best you got bub?" Qrow teased, briefly glancing at his weapon, seeing the edge of the blade with a few small scrapes from the saw, but nothing serious. Upon looking at the saw it had collided with, he smirked seeing the chipped teeth and damage on the blade. "Cause I can do this all day." The lieutenant growled aggressively, and rushed Qrow again, failing to strike the huntsman.

Then without Warning, Qrow suddenly felt a sense of unease as his senses seemed to flare up suddenly, everything becoming much brighter, louder, and more intense. So much so, that he was unable to block the next swing, his aura flaring up, but the pain still reaching him somewhat. And even while it was dulled, the pain was far worse than it should have been.

"Hows that for your Overconfident ass?" The lieutenant said with a smirk, watching as the huntsman attempted to recover from the sudden sensory overload. Qrow even recoiled slightly, the sound of the faunas' voice much louder than normal. "Thanks to my semblance, your senses are on hyperdrive, and now I'm at a great advantage!" He shouted, making Qrow groan and grip his head as the sound of the lieutenant's normally gentle voice was suddenly turned into an ear splitting yell. The white fang member then swung his chainsaw wide, and struck Qrow in the side, slamming the experienced hunter into the wall, the force of the bow cracking the surface of the drywall.

"Alright, now you've made my shit-list." Qrow said quietly as he got back up for another round.

* * *

A metallic fist struck Hazel's face, his Aura flaring, but despite it's best efforts, the punishment was still getting to his body, a few minor busies on his face as he fought with the armored intruder. It was rare Hazel could find someone that could bets him in pure strength, but never had he fought an armored opponent such as this. The armor design itself was unique enough, but given how well it was holding up against his aura infused strikes, it was far more special than he thought. The intruder backed up several spaces, a few small dents and spaces with rubbed off paint now adorning the armor.

"Okay, mind telling me who you are? And how the hell you've been matching my armor blow for blow?" Nathan asked in an offended manner, greatly perturbed that a single man could be capable of such a feat. It was like he was a super mutant in human clothes. The large man stared at the sole survivor for a few moments before shaking his head.

"Call me Hazel. And to answer your question, its because I've been at this for a long time, my Aura is far tougher than most people's." Hazel commented simply. _I'll omit the fact I can't feel as much pain as normal because of my semblance, but he doesn't have to know that._ Hazel thought as he watched the armored man think for a moment.

"Hazel huh? Names Nathan, I thought I might as well exchange pleasantries." Nathan said as he atomized the assault rifle, before the spray'n pray was was in it's place. "But if thats all it is, then that just means I'll have to hit you even harder." Nathan then proceeded to unload the drum magazine into Hazel's chest, the high explosive mixture of fire dust and gunpowder causing his form to appear more like a fireball. He was forced to step back several feet as the onslaught continued without mercy.

Hazel could feel his aura rapidly depleting, and despite his desire to run forward and punch the armored man's lights out, he knew that would only put him in a worse position, point blank range. Hazel rolled to the side behind a box of equipment, nearly hitting it because of his obscured vision. The firing stopped, and he could hear Nathan reload, obviously intent on finishing off his opponent. _I guess I shouldn't have underestimated him. Powerful armor, a semblance that lets him quickly switch weapons, each potentially as powerful as that last one... He's not to be taken lightly. But neither am I._ At that, Hazel began to a mostly silent search for dust as Nathan began his own search.

"Alright, where'd you go?" Nathan asked himself as he walked through a corridor of equipment crates, searching for Hazel. The man was surprisingly quick on his feet, and had managed to somehow evade Nathan as he pursued, forcing Nathan to search the area carefully, not wishing to be caught in any kind of trap. "Damn, how does a big guy like that hide in a place like this?" He asked himself in disbelief, almost ashamed he had lost sight of the man. _But what if he has some sort of semblance that lets him sneak away? Or become invisible or something? Damn. An unlimited use stealth boy, that would sure be useful._ Then he heard the sound of rushing footsteps behind him, and he turned in time to see Hazel rushing him, this time though with lightning dust crystals jammed into his arm, a fierce expression on his face as he charged without care. Nathan open fired immediately, Hazel's aura shining dangerously, but it held long enough for the brute to slam his fist into Nathan's chest piece, hurling the armored Vault dweller into a stack of equipment, coming out the other side into a much clearer section of the warehouse. The sound of metal being hit and bending had resonated briefly, but niether man had noticed.

"Holy shit." Nathan muttered simply as he got up, noticing the electrical crackles and the sound of the electronics humming filling his ears. "Oh no." Nathan said to himself, and while the sounds quickly stopped, he realized that the lightning dust appeared to have conducted all throughout his suit, impacting some of the finer components. The Hydraulics and the core of the suit would be protected, but his readouts, lights, and HUD system might not. _Granted if he got a direct hot on the core, it could cut the connection to the rest of the suit, leaving me dead in the water._ Nathan thought with concern as he suddenly became much more wary of his foe.

* * *

Qrow sluggishly managed to dodge another strike from the lieutenant, his chainsaw coming dangerously close to Qrow's neck. The huntsman jumped back several paces, trying his best to see his opponent through the strangely bright lights in the ceiling. He shook his head, doing his best to focus through the effects of the lieutenant's semblance.

"Who would have thought, a simple semblance would be the end for Qrow Branwen. Too bad, I guess all the stories I heard about you were all nothing but that... stories." The lieutenant said as he slowly approached the hyper sensitive huntsman, attempting to make his voice as loud as possible without outright yelling, forcing the Qrow's voice out as he groaned in discomfort. "Any last words old man?" Qrow seemed beaten for a moment, before he smirked.

"Yea... Fuck you." Qrow's 'final' words seemed to really irk the lieutenant as he swung wide, his chainsaw impacting the wall, the dulled bladed not cutting effectively enough, stopping the machine as it hit a metal stud. Qrow forced himself to ignore the blaring sound of the chainsaw's engine as he swung hard and fast, striking as many times as he could the lieutenant's aura breaking in record time as Qrow transformed his weapon into as shotgun, two barrels popping out from under the blade, making the sharp edge hinge downward as he shot, the sound of his own gun spitting his ears for only a moment before his senses returned to normal, allowing him to clearly see the unconscious form of the lieutenant, his aura broken, and his body thoroughly beaten. "Rough luck kid." Qrow said with a smirk, before his hand shot up to his head, attempting to ease the splitting headache he was now cursed with.

* * *

Nathan switched the spray'n pray for something with a little more stopping power, and as Hazel emerged from the wrecked crate, Nathan shot the first of many shotgun shells from the Le Fusil Terribles, the shell impacted with Hazel's chest, causing his aura to burst. Nathan did not relent, and instead continued to pump lead into the man, each shot ringing out in the warehouse. He stumbled back, gripping his chest with his right ahnd, only for it to be shot up as well, blood splattering off of his body. He fell backwards soon after Nathan had emptied the clip, his body hitting the floor with a solid thud. Nathan reloaded instinctively as he neared the downed body of Hazel, and noticed that the dust in his arms was still glowing, and his chest was still heaving. Despite all that punishment, he was still alive. Unconcious and bleeding out, but alive.

"Ten points for tenacity... you seem important too. I think I saw some rope or something somewhere else..." Nathan said as he idly wandered to what he assumed was a location with rope or anything to tie his new prisoner up with. He grabbed the back of Hazel's shirt and dragged him along, uncaring of the potential further damage. Briefly Nathan looked down to his wounded enemy. _Well, if he dies, he dies._ Nathan thought as he continued onwards. _He could be important... or he could just be a tough guy they recruited... wait, he's human. Why would the white fang be even remotely connected to humans. Too good of a warrior to pass up? And why would this guys team up with the white fang? Maybe... he doesn't necessarily work for them._ He managed to spot some rope rolled up beside some of the crates, and dragged Hazel over so he could begin to tie him up.

"Just who are you?" Nathan asked to himself as he began to tie hazel up securely, and after a brief moment of hesitation, applied some basic bandaging and gauze to his chest, preventing him from bleeding out. "Glad Ozpin talked me into taking some actual medical supplies, I don't know if I'll be able to make stimpacks reliably here. So I better preserve them as much as possible." Nathan continued silently as he added more ropes and secured Hazel's legs and torso after applying the first aid. Carefully he stepped back and observed his handiwork, content with the bindings, he left to continued his original mission, that was, until he nearly ran into Qrow as the huntsman came running towards the entrance of the crate-corridor.

"Nathan, glad I made it to you. Listen, There a guy named Hazel that just went after you a few minutes ago, so you probably ran into him already..." Qrow surmised aloud, his face going from serious to mildly curious as he observed the scratched paint and the few small dents on the armor plating. With the exception of one rather major dent right in the center of the chest piece, nearly being 3 inches wide, the chest piece looking like someone had tried to cave it in.

"I did. Took care of it." Nathan said rather dismissively, before he turned around and gestured with his head towards the unconscious form of Hazel, his bound body visible from their location.

Qrow had no words. At first he had thought Nathan would be able to handle himself and at least by time before he could come and assist, but he hadn't considered that he would take care of Hazel all by himself. The large brute was motionless, and Qrow mirrored that, being frozen in shock at the sight. Nathan looked between the two briefly before he made an incredibly intelligent and astute observation.

"You know him?"

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

 **I'm glad I was finally able to get this out, and honestly I'm rather proud of myself for how much I've gotten written in the time since my last general update. It isn't as good as it used to be when my job was easier and closer, but I'm getting better. As of this chapter, I have an additional 3k words into my next chapter of Blades Seeketh Blood. So all in all I wrote about 12k words this month... not perfect, but not bad either. My goal is 1k words per day.**

 **So... as you can tell, I'm going to be deviating from the timeline pretty heavily as of here on out. I have some plans, and I obviously won't spoil them, but I think you guys will enjoy what I have in mind. I know this chapter was kind of all over the place as well, but I tried something different with the combat, seeing what it would look like to transition between each fight somewhat rapidly. Tell me what you think in the comments. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and as always...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9- Bad Gamble

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout or RWBY**

 **Bad Gamble**

Within the forests of Eastern Vale, a warehouse sat in a secluded location, away from nearly all civilization. and the perfect place for a terrorist organization such as the white fang to conduct their operations. Unfortunately for them, they had been found out, and thus now one professionally trained huntsman, and one heavily armored, specially trained man were currently in the middle of ruining said warehouse. At least, they had been.

"You know him?" Nathan's voice broke Qrow out of his stupor and looked to Nathan, the power-armored man's helmet giving him an insectoid gaze.

"Well, he's one of the most wanted people on the planet for one thing." Qrow began as he pulled out a cylindrical metallic device and approached Hazel's unconscious form. "Then theres the fact that this guy hates Ozpin's guts, and subsequently anyone that has anything to do with the man." Then Qrow put the device on Hazel's shoulder, metal prongs extending outward and clasping on to the large brawler, setting up on his person.

"Whats that thing?" Nathan asked with curiosity seeing a new technology before him.

"Its an aura suppressor. It'll keep his aura down to a minimum level, and keeps his semblance from being able to activate." Qrow explained matter of factly, making Nathan eye the device with slight wonder. Then his face contorted into confusion, not that Qrow would have been able to tell.

"Wait... then why do we only have one? Unless you have a second one hidden somewhere, because Ozpin never gave me anything like that." Nathan inquired as he watched Qrow looked around at the crates surrounding them, the white fang having seemingly disappeared from the area

"Because that isn't a normal version of an aura suppressor. Normal versions are the size of generators. I was given one like this just In case I came across someone like Hazel. Only ever used it once before." Qrow explained, making Nathan eye the piece of equipment with a newfound interest and respect. _Being able to minimize something like that is no easy feat I'm sure. I wonder if I can't get something similar that I could break down._ Nathan thought as he saw Hazel's aura shimmer and then stay alight, the water-like image of the aura staying faintly around the man.

"Impressive. Alright, so now what?" Nathan asked genuinely as he went to pick up the downed criminal. Qrow hummed as he considered the question.

"Not sure to be honest. We were supposed to secure the location more or less after clearing out the white fang members... but with Hazel here, and with that lieutenant I want to get out of here as soon as possible to get some information." Qrow paused as he thought, Nathan thinking about it as well, but then he realized something.

"Qrow, where is the lieutenant?" Nathan asked, and Qrow pointed a thumb towards a door on the wall nearby that led to an office like area. "I'll go get him real quick." Nathan walked towards the offices, having to duck slightly as he entered the corridors. Qrow looked back at Hazel and a small smile appeared on his face.

"For all that time you spent training and getting better to fight Ozpin, and you get beat by some random teacher from beacon. I bet you feel pretty bad huh?" Qrow said cockily as he observed Hazel's unconscious form, the brawler not reacting to the huntsman's words. "Well, I'm sure Ozpin will be more than enthused that you've been apprehended, and really thankful to Nathan for knocking you out. You though? The only thing you'll be seeing are iron bars for a long time bub." Then the sound of heavy footfalls reached Qrow's ears and he looked behind him to see Nathan had picked up the body of the lieutenant and was carrying him over his shoulder. The shop teacher reached Qrow and nodded a head to Hazel.

"I think that might be a good idea, take these two and find the location of five more warehouses like this even if this particular one is cleaned out and abandoned while we're gone. Unless we can call someone to keep it guarded that is." Nathan said as he reached down and grabbed Hazel as well, keeping both men on either of his armored shoulders. Qrow nodded.

"I'll see if the Vale military can get out here to secure the location, but I honestly doubt they'll get here before the white fang can clear everything out... were you able to destroy a bit of equipment?" Nathan merely nodded as he walked out of the small maze of crates and gestured to the other end of the warehouse, where the remains of crates of equipment sat, a lot of it now unusable.

"There was a lot more hardware here than actual dust or complicated machinery. Lots of guns, empty magazines, construction equipment, and the odd barricade or two. Nothing thats overly expensive... although I never got to these crates." Nathan said, gesturing to the various unharmed crates around them.

"Its alright, lets just get out of here before the white fang get reinfor-" Just as he said that, the sound of a bullhead roared overhead. "Me and my big mouth." Qrow said, before he broke into a sprint towards the other side of the warehouse, where Nathan had originally entered, said person right behind him, still carrying the two criminals. The two exited in short order only to be met by a group of white fang members that had just dropped down from a low flying bullhead. However there were more there than was possible to fit on a single ship, making the two huntsman believe that white fang members that were originally in the warehouse had made their way out here after fleeing Nathan's initial assault. "Shit." Was Qrow's simple response to their new situation.

"Watch these two." Nathan said as he dropped the criminals on the ground. Strangely enough it appeared that the 'reinforcements' were wielding nothing but sabers and axes, with only a few of them wielding any kind of firearm. _Maybe they're infused with dust or something?_ Nathan thought curiously as he observed the terrorist group before him. He drew out his assault rifle, and pointed it right at the closest White fang member. "I'll give you all one chance to turn around... now." The members actually looked at each other for a second, apparently considering his words, until one trigger happy faunas shot Nathan's helmet. The Sole Survivor retaliated immediately as he turned to the offending faunas and shot three times, breaking his aura, before shooting him in the knee, making the terrorist cry out in pain as he fell to the ground.

The other white fang members seemed to take that cry of pain an an incentive to attack, and proceeded to rush the power armored man. The first one to reach him wielded a large axe, and went for a horizontal strike, but a metal hand grabbed the blade, and with hydraulic strength, bent the axe head into a twisted, deformed version of it's former self. Nathan let go of the axe, before gripping his rifle with both hands, and slamming the butt of it into the faunas' nose, sending him back a few feet. Another one ran up to hm, and received multiple gunshots to the chest in return, turning his aura to tatters and covering his chest in blood and bullet holes.

Nathan turned around and slammed his elbow into another white fang member, and once fully facing the same one, he open fired, quickly turning him into a bloody corpse. A weight found purchase on his back as a white fang member took a hold of the large cylindrical armor that surrounded the neck area of the X-01, and climbed up to see the helmet, a knife in hand, intent on finding a weak point. Before Nathan could attempt to grab the unwanted passenger, he was violently thrown off by a large sword making contact with his body, sending him into a nearby tree.

"Good thing you have me to watch your back, huh?" Qrow asked a bit cockily as he knocked out another white fang member with ease as the terrorist rushed him. Nathan merely gave the huntsman a thankful nod before turning his attention to the rest of the terrorist members. He aimed for the members that had rifles and firearms, and began to fire into the group of Faunas', managing to take out several of the terrorists in the span of a few seconds, preventing any of them from causing too much damage. Qrow took a position by the downed criminals as he would wait for white fang members to come close.

The White fang numbers were dwindling fast, unable to do anything to their two opponents, and so the three surviving members of the group that had met them fled, running around the warehouse in a scurry to get away.

"Alright, now, lets get out of here." Qrow said as he switched his sword to it's shotgun mode as Nathan picked up the two unconscious criminals. A grunt came from Hazel, making Nathan pause, but after waiting a moment, the brute gave no other sound indication he might be conscious. Nathan and Qrow proceeded to run into the forest, aiming to get to a bullhead as soon as possible to take their cargo somewhere safer. As they fled into the forest though, bullets began to wiz by them, and taking a quick glance behind, revealed that more white fang members had gathered, and were now taking potshots at them from beside the warehouse. One shot hit Nathan's leg, with the distinct sound of rock hitting metal being heard.

"Dust rounds." Qrow said distastefully as he attempted to weave through the trees, making himself a harder to hit target. Nathan grimaced, hoping that none of the rounds would be lightning. _With my back exposed to them like this, theres a chance they might hit the fusion core! Gotta make myself a harder target._ Nathan thought urgently as he tilted his torso sideways as he ran, and anytime he ran beside a tree, he would get in front of it, putting it between him and their attackers. For a while he thought that they were home free as he and Qrow sped away from the warehouse, unfortunately, the universe had other plans.

A dust round came out of nowhere and struck the locking mechanism right outside of the fusion core's location. The lightning dust went into effect immediately, sending an electrical surge through the suit in milliseconds. The readouts on the inside of the helmet went from their normal positions to all of them being 100, and attempting to go past that, the needles shaking violently. The sound of whirring could be heard both inside and outside the suit as the electronics were being strained as the electricity surged. This was a similar effect to what had happened when he had fought Hazel, but with one major different this time, the fusion core was now overloading, and the wiring around it was struggling to contain the intense voltage.

Nathan came to a stop as lighting sparked all throughout his suit, the other-worlder dropping the two unconscious men, and locking up suddenly as the lights from the insectoid visor flickering dangerously. Qrow stopped as well, noticing the strange reaction from his partner. He stared In shock as the previously unstoppable machine was now struggling to move. _Damn it! This is just my luck!_ Nathan cursed as he feared the worse, that the fusion core would overheat and proceed to explode with him still in the suit. The readout grew much brighter for a brief second, and Nathan was bracing himself for the inevitable.

 _POP_

The sound of a fuse or something similar popping was heard, and everything within the suit went silent. Nathan attempted to move, but could not, and noticed all of his readouts now read zero. That was about the time the power armor began to fall forward. "Well shit." was all Nathan could get out before the X-01 power armor fell in a heap of metal on the ground, the armor unable and unwilling to move. Qrow came up beside him immediately, and then looked up to see if he could spot the source of the fired lightning dust, but besides the white fang members who were still pursuing them, he saw no one else.

"Cmon Nathan, you need to get up. We got to get out of here." Qrow urged, hoping that the man was at least still conscious.

"Hold on, the armor isn't responding. I need to fix it or we aren't getting out of here with what we have." Nathan said as he moved his right arm a bit to find the button he was looking for, thankfully it wasn't hard, and upon finding the release, and pressing it, the armor manually unlocked, the back plate arching upwards, allowing Nathan to slip out, and examine the armor himself. Unfortunately, due to no longer being connected to the armor's mainframe, the Pipboy had to resort to it's own storage capacity to hold all of the items within, causing Nathan to release an annoyed grunt as the watch now acted like a fifty pound weight that was strapped to his wrist. He immediately went to examining the inside the armor by where the fusion core was house, searching for the problem.

"Better hurry it up, they're getting closer." Qrow said with urgency, and as if to emphasize his point, a bullet strafed right past his face, making him look at the source, seeing that some of the members had their sights on them. In response, Qrow lifted his sword-turned-shotgun at the opposing terrorists and fried, the slug rounds managing to hit a few of them, forcing them to back off.

Nathan atomized a few tools he kept on hand and began to take apart the back of the armor, and immediately realized the problem he now had. Many of the wires around the fusion core had simultaneously exploded from the overcharge, but had somehow not driven the fusion core to overload either. _The fact that the fusion core was down to around 15% probably helped._ Nathan theorized as he atomized some spare copper wiring. None of it was the same color as what was in the armor, but that didn't matter as long as he made the connections properly. _This stuff is over 200 years old... I'm surprised that the wiring has held up this long to be honest._ Nathan's thoughts made him pretty thankful that the wiring was that old, as that undoubtedly played another part into him not becoming a human explosive. He began to replace the wiring as quickly as he could, but with the added encumbrance of his overloaded Pipboy, it was difficult to do anything quickly.

Qrow searched for his enemies within the darkened forests, but knew that the white fang likely had the advantage, as many different faunas had good night vision. Nevertheless he watched as white fang members got closer to his location some of them taking potshots at the duo only to be be on the receiving end of a slug dust round.

Nathan worked diligently as the shots taken at them became more frequent as the white fang grew closer, and seemed to realize why exactly the huntsman had stopped. The sole survivor glanced over to their captives and saw that they were still mostly unconscious, but were shifting a bit in their position. They weren't going to stay unconscious for too much longer at this rate. Nathan began to work as fast as he could, but there were still numerous wires he needed to replace.

"Fuck it. I think I still have the recipe somewhere in the Pipboy." Nathan said quietly to himself as he atomized an inhaler like object in his hand, it's basic shape a false advertisement to it's abilities. He swiftly inhaled it, the pressurized container that held the precious drugs releasing it's contents in only a second. "Oh yea..." Nathan said slightly dreamily as his world became more saturated, his voice becoming deeper as he perceived everything at a much slower pace. He acted as quickly as the drug would let him, now moving much faster in relation to everything else around him. The drug's effects dissipated after a few seconds though, making Nathan shake his head from the after effects. Thankfully he now only had one more wire to fix.

"Nathan!" Qrow said urgently, a clear indication that the white fang members were starting to become overwhelming, and they wouldn't be able to stay there for much longer. A moment or two after he said that though, the sound of something metal being clamped down could be heard, and Qrow turned around to see The power armor moving, as it slowly got up off the ground. Nathan turned around and headed towards the huntsman.

"I hear ya, I hear ya." Nathan grumbled slightly as he turned around as he faced the direction the white fang members were shooting them at. He atomized what looked like an antique lever action rifle, before he took aim with it, looking though the scope, the slight green glow of night vision visible as Qrow saw him use it. This was when Qrow also realized that it somehow had two barrels. A solid bang resonated through the forest as Nathan fired, making a grunt's head explode in a shower of gore, leaving a bloody mess on the tree he was peeking out of. "Lets get out of here before more show up." Nathan said before he found another target, turning another skull into nothing but fragments, blood spurting from his neck as it tired to supply the bodily fluid to a part of the body that was no longer there.

Nathan turned around and quickly picked up their captives, both men giving grunts of discomfort. Qrow stood behind Nathan as they began to flee, intent on keeping what happened before from happening again.

* * *

Finally getting away from the white fang had taken a while, but both Qrow and Nathan had manged to shake their pursuers. They came to the edge of the forest where the shrubbery stopped and opened up into large open plains, the sight of a few Grimm in the distance, but they seemed to be moving in the direction of the warehouse, which given the direction they had fled, meant that the Grimm would hopefully move right along past them.

"I think we'll be good for now." Qrow said as he observed their surroundings. Before he turned to Nathan and sighed. "It'd be smart to camp in the forest instead of out here. Lets head back a bit and find somewhere suitable." Nathan nodded as he watched the plains through his visor. They both turned around and headed back into the forest where they found a small cave within a hillside where they decided to lay low. Nathan tied up their captives in short order, making sure they were secured as Qrow started to make a small fire at the entrance of the cave.

Nathan took the opportunity to once again come out of his power armor, this time taking a closer look at the back section where the dust bullet had impacted. _Damn, I'm going to need to get something set up so this doesn't happen again, maybe create a non-conductive lining? Wait... why didn't they think of that when they were designing it in the first place? Maybe they assumed any electric based attacks would be taken from the front like with Hazel? Still though, thats a big assumption._ Nathan though with some surprise and anger as he realized the now potentially fatal flaw his armor had. Nevertheless he began to examine what other damages the surge could have had throughout the suit, his Pipboy weighing him down as he did so.

"I think we'll be good for now, but we'll take turns on watch to make sure the white fang don't ambush us and that our prisoners stay like they are." Qrow said as he neared Nathan, watching the man with some interest. The veteran huntsman eyed the suit with curiosity as well, not recognizing it as anything Atlas has ever made, but he wasn't entirely sure. "So... your suit going to be all right?" Nathan sighed as he allowed the armor to close on it's own, before taking out a cylindrical yellow object from it's back.

"Yea, it'll be okay for now. But that dust round nearly blew the power source, if you catch my drift." Nathan said as he atomized his assault marine armor and began to dawn it over the army fatigues, noting that at a glance, he saw Qrow cringe a bit. Ignoring it for now, he put the gas mask on after finishing donning the chest piece, and then atomized the Overseer's Guardian. The double barreled combat rifle appearing in his hands, allowing him to examine the object to make sure it was ready for use.

"Yea, sorry about that." Qrow said in a guilty manner, and Nathan looked at him curiously, his head tilted to one side. Qrow saw the gesture, and decided to elaborate, considering the amor had nearly exploded due to his semblance. "Its my semblance. Its brings bad luck to myself and anyone I'm close to. Physically close that is. Its was probably because of me that the bullet hit you in the least optimal spot, and why you nearly went critical. Thats why I do missions alone." Nathan stared at the man for a few seconds, before he chuckled a bit, causing Qrow to grow a scowl. "You think having a semblance like that is funny?" He asked dangerously, obviously miffed about Nathan laughing.

"No no, its not that, its just... well, sure the dust hit a bad spot, but if it wasn't for the wiring being old and ready to pop before the core did, then I would have definitely been kaput. What I'm trying to say is that, your luck must not be that bad, or I'd be dead. Plus, this has only made me want to further improve my armor so that this doesn't happen again. So in a way, it was for the best." Nathan explained, Qrow losing his scowl and then staring at the guy in slight amazement.

 _This guy nearly died, and he's shrugging it off like it was nothing. I'm glad that he doesn't blame me though. Even if I blame me._ Qrow thought before simply chuckling himself and whipping out a sliver flask. He took a swig as he sat down by the fire, watching the flames dance on the wood.

"I think I'll join you." Nathan said as he sat down on the opposite side, and atomized a beer, before knocking the bottle cap off and taking a swig, not forgetting to take his helmet off and keep the cap. The two sat in silence as they occasionally took a sip from their respective drinks. "I'll take first watch if you wanna catch some shut-eye." Nathan spoke up, making the huntsman glance to him before nodding. Qrow put his flask away and simply laid down were he was. Nathan watched the night sky as he sat there, and once his drink was finished, he put his helmet back on and stepped out of the cave, slightly wishing the helmet gave him night vision. It was polarized, and definitely helped with the sun when it was at it's highest, but did not help at all at night. He was thankful the helmet came with a small light, but that did not do much to help. It was a shame he wasn't a night person.

Nathan's watch went off without a hitch for the most part, no Grimm bothered to get close, and for that he was thankful. After he had his watch, he turned around to wake Qrow up only to see that someone was already awake, and it wasn't Qrow.

"Qrow. Looks like our sleeping beauties are awake." Nathan said, lightly shaking the man, who got up fairly quick. Nathan gestured towards where their two captives were tied up, and Qrow saw that Hazel had finally come to, and was attempting to break his restraints with little success.

"Well, look who's finally awake." Qrow said smugly as he approached the burly man, Hazel stopped his struggling and glared at the huntsman, which quickly shifted to the only armored individual, and his glare became even harder. "Don't get all testy now. If you let us know what we want to, you can get a reduced sentence in solitary confinement. From say, five lifetimes, to three." Qrow said, rubbing salt in the proverbial wound. Hazel didn't say anything, nor did the white fang lieutenant who was also glaring at them from his position right next to Hazel.

"Okay, listen. I don't really know either one of you or have personal beef with you either." Nathan began as he put the Overseer's Guardian on his back to hopefully not incite any more distaste from the captives. "We just want to know a few things about your operation, okay?" Nathan's diplomatic inquiry got Hazel to spit on the ground in front of him, while the lieutenant looked ready to blow a gasket.

"No beef? No beef!?" The lieutenant began angrily, which for some reason made Nathan recall a commercial from the TV back on earth. "You might just be following orders, but we fight for a purpose! The faunas will continue to fight for our rights and equal opportunities no matter what! The fact that you have no personal stake in this fight just means that I have even less of a reason to give you information!" The lieutenant stopped for a moment to catch his breath after his angry tirade. "Not that I'd ever sell out my brothers and sisters anyway, theres too much at stake now for me to give you anything." Nathan stared at the lieutenant for a moment before he nodded.

"I understand that sentiment." Nathan said plainly, throwing the white fang member off slightly. "But you might have just given away more than you think. When you said 'theres too much at stake now', it implies something has probably changed recently in your operations thats required you to be even more secretive... So your planning something big." Nathan said confidently while Qrow looked at him oddly, obviously not taking the white fang member's words in the same way.

"T-Thats not what I meant at all!" The lieutenant immediately said, his voice a bit louder than he probably meant it to be.

"Uh huh, immediate denial and stuttering too." Nathan said with a bit of smugness, noticing how Hazel was giving the man a glare equal to the one he gave Qrow. "And your partner there certainly seems upset about how things have gone. You guys are pretty easy to read, you know that?" Hazel didn't say anything, but instead merely looked to the ground while the lieutenant looked away in embarrassment.

"Well, I have to admit, that was impressive. Even if that was a bit of a stretch." Qrow said with a bit of a nod. Nathan hummed as he looked at Hazel, knowing that the brawler had yet to say anything since waking up.

"What about you Hazel? Willing to talk?" Nathan asked inquisitively, Hazel's eyes glaring at the teacher's helmet.

"No." Hazel said simply, his gravely voice grating on everyone's ears. Nathan waited a moment to see if he would elaborate, but the brawler was most likely more on edge because of Nathan's deduction earlier.

"Well then, maybe you had a question for me then? Tit for tat sort of thing." Nathan offered, but Hazel merely grunted as he looked away. Qrow glanced to Nathan and motioned for him to follow as the veteran huntsman went back over to the fire, away from the ears of their captives.

"Whats up?" Nathan asked somewhat quietly, being mindful of the other two that might overhear.

"Well, I actually wanted to ask you a question or two if you didn't mind. I doubt Hazel or the white fang are going to be interested In anything about you, but I've had a few questions in my mind since we started this whole mess." Qrow said, making Nathan nod, motioning for Qrow to go ahead and ask away. "Well, first off, that weapon you used. That lever action that had the two barrels, How in the hell was it so powerful? It went right through those white fang member's aura." Nathan seemed to think about that for a moment as he looked out into the forest.

"Well, the only thing I can really say is that I'm very experienced with handling those kinda of weapons, and that I've heavily modified it to pack as much of a punch as possible." Nathan replied as he atomized the weapon in question. "Its called Old Reliable. I bought it a good while ago and I've been refining it and upgrading it ever since. It does have some pretty good power behind it, and top that with the fact it fires two bullets at once, and you have something that can penetrate Aura if it isn't strong enough." Nathan reasoned as he showed the rifle to Qrow, turning it over where 'Old Reliable' was etched into one of the barrels. Qrow hummed a bit skeptically as he said this, apparently not entirely convinced that was all there was to it.

"And what about the armor? I know for a fact that isn't Atlas grade tech, but its still advanced enough that I can't see it coming from anywhere else but there. So where did you get it?" Qrow inquired, a skeptical look on his face.

"The power armor huh..." Nathan said as he glanced at the standing armor in question. _Thats tricky... Because I don't really have any good story, especially since Qrow seems pretty observant. But he's also pretty trustworthy, and saved my ass when the power armor was down. He deserves to know the truth... But I doubt he'll believe me._ Nathan surmised as he looked to the gruff man, and sighed.

"The reason you don't recognize it is because its not from Atlas or Vale, your right on that account, but its also not from remnant. Neither am I." Nathan explained, causing the huntsman's eyebrow to threaten to leave his face. "I know you don't believe me, but its the truth, you can ask Ozpin if you want, he'll back up my claim. And this is whats been allowing me to switch between weapons so quickly. Its called a Pipboy, Its not my semblance." Nathan said as he demonstrated the Pipboy's atomizing ability as he now held a box of fancy lad cakes in his offhand. Qrow watched the Pipboy closely, noticing how the stream of materials came directly from the Pipboy itself, forming into the snack.

"Well, thats certainly hard to believe, and it would be an awfully convenient explanation for the armor..." Qrow said in a disbelieving tone before he shrugged his shoulders. "But I'm willing to hear you out considering everything you've done and the fact Ozpin trusts you enough to be a teacher at Beacon. I will definitely be talking to him about this though." Qrow said as took position just outside of the cave. "Now, I'm guessing its my turn to watch, why don't you catch some shut-eye." Nathan watched him for a moment in brief disbelief before heading back over to the fire. Calling it a fire was being generous, as all that was left were some still glowing orange pieces of charcoal. He looked over to the captives to see they were still very much awake. Hazel was staring at him while the white fang member was saying something inaudible either to Hazel or to himself. Nathan walked over to talk to them one last time.

"I hope you two aren't planning anything." Nathan said as he approached the two. "We've still got quite the trip to Vale, and we'd rather not have to deal with two restless prisoners on the way there." Neither one responded as they both just glared at him. "Right, real talkative. But listen, if you just cooperate, I'm sure Ozpin will give you a fair sentence." Nathan paused as he waited for either one of them to talk, but while the white fang member was not going to talk for reasons he's already stated, Hazel was mostly a mystery. The past with Ozpin that Qrow had eluded Hazel had seemed to really be in play, as Hazel's angry glare quickly turned into a snarl.

"I highly doubt that." Hazel said, his voice a bit quieter than before, but with even more venom.

"And what makes you say that? Ozpin's a reasonable guy." Nathan's next sentence seemed to make Hazel even angrier as he growled a bit.

"Reasonable? You call training kids and sending them to their deaths reasonable!?" Hazel asked furiously, his voice picking up, and in response, Nathan tightened his grip on his rifle. He remembered what Hazel had done to his power armor, and did not want to be on the receiving end of a hit from him without it. Hazel seemed to realize he had raised his voice though, and settled down. "I have a score to settle with him. Lets just leave it at that." Nathan didn't pursue the issue, but given what he had just said implied that Hazel had lost someone while attending beacon. _Whoever it was, must have been really important to Hazel, especially for him to get involved in the white fang... despite not being a faunas. Thats another question, but I'll leave that for later._ Nathan thought as he made his way back to the campfire laid against the side of the cave, already knowing how uncomfortable it is to sleep in the assault marine armor. He allowed himself one last look at each of the three men around him before he shut his eyes and drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

"General?" Prestons voice caught Nathan's attention as his second in command entered the bedroom he had at the Castle, coming in slowly and looking around at the few trophies the Vault 111 survivor had put up. Then his eyes fell on the sole survivor's back and noticed the drastic change in armor he had on. "I heard you had come back from Far Harbor, and looks like you got some new armor to show for it." The minuteman approached Nathan and noticed that he was staring at something on the bedside table. Preston was still wearing his standard minuteman uniform, albeit with a few armor modifications that Nathan had added over their time traveling.

"Yea, its some pretty good stuff too. Found each pice in these shipments across the island. It was pretty hard to get them, but definitely worth it." Nathan replied neutrally, and it made Preston look at his leader with some concern. Preston waited for a few moments to see if he would expand upon it, but seeing as he wasn't and wasn't trying to strike up another conversation, he could tell something was wrong. Preston knew Nathan well enough to tell that something was either seriously bothering Nathan or he was in deep thought about something.

"General? Are you alright?" Preston asked earnestly as he watched Nathan carefully, seeing how he had somewhat frozen at the question.

"Was I that obvious?" Nathan asked somewhat sadly, before turning around to look at Preston, the General's helmet set on the bed. Preston observed that Nathan was a bit reserved and his face had lost the usual liveliness he had often displayed.

"I'm your second in command, and your friend, Its my job to notice stuff like this." Preston said with amusement, and Nathan chuckled along, an amused grin now adorning his face.

"Yea, I guess your right..." Nathan said, pausing, as he tried to find the best way to word what he wanted to say. Preston waited patiently. "When me and Nick were over there, We met this guy name Old Longfellow. He was a pretty good guy, and acted as our guide through the island to Acadia. Which, is a story all on it's own." Preston nodded, and while the dark-toned man didn't know what Acadia was, he understood that Nathan's woe wasn't related to the place. "Anyways, Old Longfellow traveled with me and Nick for a long time through the island, and while Nick was investigating by himself, Longfellow and me travelled the island by ourselves, and he taught me a lot. He became a good friend to me, even if he didn't talk about himself a lot and could be kinda, distant. But when I was about to come back he... told me about his past. I'm not going to repeat everything, but, he lost his significant other too, and with her, his unborn child. He said his biggest regret was not being able to become a father, something that he didn't want to see happen to me." Nathan grew quiet as he recalled what Longfellow had told him not two days earlier, and how similar their situations were.

"Wow General, that's almost exactly what you went through." Preston pointed out, to which Nathan simply nodded, not bothering to throw in a sarcastic quip at the obviousness of the statement. "Is that why your looking down? Because he reminded you of yourself?" Preston inquired, but Nathan shook his head.

"No, well yes, but thats not why I'm more somber today... the main reason is because, I'm going to stop wearing my wedding band." Preston stared at him in shock at the news.

"But... General, you told me that you would never take it off." Preston said in disbelief, the Vault 111 survivor's dedication to his late wife had been one of his driving factors since leaving the vault, so it was strange to see him even consider removing the wedding band.

"Because... I can't move on with it. Anytime I might have thought another girl might have interest, or that I thought I could love again... This always became so much heavier, and then I banished those thoughts. I thought it would be wrong to love again after Nora. But what Longfellow said to me really hit me. I can't raise Shaun anymore, and my wife isn't coming back... Thats just something I'm going to have to accept. And Nora wouldn't want me to not potentially find happiness because I was still clinging to her, to not move on would actually be an injustice to everything we went through. I can't do that with this on though, it reminds me so much of her... so I have to let go..." Nathan stopped, aware that he might be going on too long about personal issues Preston might not want to hear about, until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"If thats what you think is best General, then I'm proud of you. I still remember all that time ago In the museum of freedom when you told us you were after someone. With how much venom was in your voice, I knew that you were out for blood. But you've gone out of your way to help and save so many people. And with what you were just talking about, it must have been rough carrying all of that on your shoulders. I know what its like to lose people you care about, and moving on is the hardest part. I've never had to experience the loss of a significant other, but I understand where your coming from, and If you ever want to talk, I'm right here." Preston said sincerely as he looked at his superior. Nathan stared slack jawed, before pulling the man into a hug.

"Thank you." Were Nathan's only words as he embraced his friend. Soon they separated, and Preston left Nathan to himself as the Sole survivor put both his and his wife's wedding bands away, ready to move on to another chapter of his life.

* * *

Nathan woke up groggily as the morning sun shone within the cave. The dream he had just had a simple memory of earth. _Maybe I'm really starting to miss it now. Who knows._ Nathan thought as he sat up, thankfully seeing nothing had really changed, Qrow was in different position, but still on guard, while Hazel and the white fang member were still tied up. He was about to speak up when the lieutenant spoke for him.

"I gotta go." The Faunas merely said, making Hazel glance at him curiously, then his face becoming a familiar scowl as the Faunas shifted. Hazel would have tried to scoot away from the now bathroom-needing faunas, but he knew it would have been pointless.

"Well isn't that a lovely thing to wake up to." Nathan said sarcastically as he sat up and stretched, stiff from his position against the stone wall. Everyone else glanced to the armored man as he began to wake up. Qrow nodded to him before walking over to their captives. Nathan meanwhile began to take off his armor pieces.

"Well, your just going to have to hold it, We're fixing to head back to Vale. You can go when your behind bars." Qrow said with finality, making the two captives glare at him. The sound of something being slammed into something else caught their attention as Nathan inserted the fusion core into the power armor before once again hopping inside, the suit closing and pressurizing as he did so.

"Then lets get this show on the road and head to the rendezvous." Nathan said as he approached the two men, and undid their bindings. Qrow looked shocked as he readied his weapon. Hazel's aura and semblance were suppressed, but the White fang member's wasn't. Immediately after being released, they both jumped the power armored man, who nonchalantly grabbed them both by the neck. Without warning, and before either could come up with a way to take him down, Nathan slammed the two convict's heads into each other, both of them being knocked out instantly. Qrow stared at him for a moment before he shook his head. They re-tied them individually and Nathan threw them over his shoulders.

"You probably didn't need to do that." Qrow said as he began to lave the cave, Nathan not too far behind him.

"Eh, it was easier than trying to tie them while they were awake." Nathan said nonchalantly as he walked behind the veteran hunter. They fell into silence after that, and continued forward, arriving at the small town where Nathan had met Qrow in short order. There was no real need to go inside the town, so instead they stayed just outside the walls, making sure to let the guards know who they were.

"Alright, the bullhead should be here shortly. How are our guests?" Qrow asked, having just got off of his scroll. As the veteran Huntsman approached, Nathan gave him a nod.

"Doing fine, they both woke up a few minutes ago while you were talking. Haven't said much though, and thankfully no one has come around to ask about them." Nathan said as he and Qrow both moved away from the town and towards the large familiar clearing where Nathan was originally dropped off. Nathan placed their captives down gently on the grass as they waited for the bullhead. They stood there for a few moments, distinctly aware of their company, and not willing to really strike any conversation. Nathan went through the various stuff he had acquired from the warehouse. Most of what he had consisted of weapon parts and raw dust. At least thats what he had picked up, there was a lot of equipment he and not bothered to pick up due to reaching his carrying capacity with the armor. It made him a bit disappointed about not being able to see all of the other crates, but they were in a bit of a rush. They waited for another ten minutes before the distinct sound of a Bullhead was heard. Nathan picked up Hazel and the lieutenant without issue, and they watched the bullhead touch down gently in front of them.

"If you untied our legs then we could walk on our own." The lieutenant offered, but Nathan ignored his request. _Like I'd let you try to get away._ Nathan thought with amusement.

"Sorry bud. I'm not going to give you a chance to run away or kick or anything." Nathan said as he entered the bullhead, noticing that there were two Vale police officers inside, equipped with rifles. "Just get used to being manhandled for a little bit." He said with amusement. No other words were exchanged as they got inside, and within moments the bullhead was taking off again, heading off towards Vale.

* * *

Ozpin waited patiently as he sipped on his coffee within the Vale police department where there were several officers swiftly preparing for two new prisoners. Both of which would need Aura suppressors to keep them contained. He had been informed just a few minutes ago that Qrow's mission had gone unexpectedly well, not only managing to destroy some of the equipment and capturing the White Fang member in charge of the facility, but also managing to capture another very dangerous individual that had been on the run for years. An individual that Ozpin had a lot of history with.

"They've just landed Ozpin." Glynda said as she approached, making the headmaster nod before he sat up from his seat and they began to walk towards the bullhead launch pad on top of the station. Once they made it, they saw that four police officers armed with rifles were standing by the pad. The Police chief was there next to them, watching with trepidation as the Bullhead's engines died down. They watched as the Bullhead's side hatch opened to reveal Qrow, Nathan, Hazel, and a white fang member. The two criminals were being guided by two more officers, their arms were tied up against their sides by ropes.

"I still think we should have kept them completely tied up." Nathan said as he and everyone else on the bullhead stepped down the ramp. "I mean, I don't mind carrying them, but whatever." Qrow nudged him a bit as they came down the ramp, the armored man looked at the huntsman before noticing that both Ozpin and Glynda were there as well. He was silent as they continued their approach. The Chief stepped forward to address the Criminals.

"Hazel Reinhard, and Lieutenant Gilligan of the White Fang. Welcome to the Vale Police department, we do hope you'll enjoy your stay here before your transferred to the Jail. But they way I understand it, it seems our guest has some words for you." The Chief said as he motioned for Ozpin, who stepped forward in turn. Both Captives seemed to glare at the headmaster, but Hazel's look was filled with an intense hatred. Hazel took a step forward, seemingly thinking about attacking outright.

"Don't even think about it." Nathan said threateningly from behind the large man, his metal fist gripped tightly. Hazel stopped reluctantly, and Ozpin looked at him with a bit of sympathy.

"Hazel, please, I know you aren't like this." Ozpin began, making the brawler growl a bit. "If you cooperate I promise we'll see if we can't redu-"

"Whatever your offering, I'm not interested." Hazel said with a venom in his voice that not many people present had ever heard from anyone else. "Are you going to takes us somewhere or not?" Hazel asked dangerously to the chief, his gaze causing the older chief to flinch slightly. The man motioned for the armed guards to take them away before he faced both Qrow and Nathan.

"I appreciate you two and your work, We'll take it from here." Qrow nodded as the guards and the captives left their field of view. Then it was just the teachers and the huntsman that were left on the roof of the police station.

"I really appreciate both of you for doing this mission." Ozpin began, offering a grateful smile to the both of them. The headmaster took note of the damage that was present on Nathan's armor, the large dent in the center of the breastplate being the most obvious. Qrow looked a little roughed up, but that much was expected. Neither though seemed to be truly hurt, something that Ozpin was grateful for.

"No problem, Honestly didn't know who that guy was until Qrow pointed him out." Nathan said casually, to which Ozpin gave an amused smile. "So now what? I go back to being a teacher and Qrow goes back to... huntsman stuff?"

"More or less, but before that I'm going to speak with you two about how the mission, and hopefully get a better idea as to what the white fang might be plotting. It might take time for us to get any information out of Hazel or the lieutenant. So if you'll join me and Glynda, we'll be heading back to Beacon shortly." Ozpin said as he began to walk back down into the station, Glynda following shortly behind. Qrow looked at Nathan, who in turn shrugged a bit. They soon followed down the stairs, Nathan going through the building somewhat awkwardly due to his armor.

Nathan got a considerable amount of attention as he made his way through town, especially considering he was traveling with Ozpin, who himself got a bit of attention as they made their way to the shuttle that went to Beacon. Qrow and Glynda didn't seem to care, and having dealt with attention similar to this, Nathan didn't mind. Soon enough they were on the shuttle, and after a brief ride, they were at Beacon.

"Hasn't changed a bit." Qrow said as he stepped off, looking over the school with some nostalgia in his eyes.

"So you went to Beacon when you were younger?" Nathan asked as they travelled, Qrow nodding absentmindedly.

"Yea, some of the best days of my life too. Graduated a long time ago..." Qrow said, drifting off a bit in memory. Nathan was content with that answer, even if he knew that there was more to it than that. Then his mind went to the fact that Beacon had teams, as did all huntsman academies. _I wonder what his team was like._ Nathan pondered. Then they entered the main building and approached the elevator. Unfortunately, with his armor, Nathan would not be able to fit with everyone else inside.

"Here, let me go drop off my armor real quick. I'll be up in a few minutes." Nathan offered, realizing he might as well take it to the shop since he was back at the school.

"That sounds fine, feel free to come up when you drop it off." Ozpin said politely, and as Nathan walked off, Glynda pushed the button to take them to the top.

"So... Nathan told me something about him being from another world. So whats the story actually? Is that some kind of stolen Atlas tech he's been walking around in or what?" Qrow asked, making both Glynda and the headmaster look at him with raised eyebrows. They looked to each other for a moment, seemingly a little shocked Nathan would have told Qrow already.

"Well, no, the armor he has on doesn't match any know Atlas technologies, not that I've asked James about it yet. I'm surprised he would have been so forthcoming with that information..." Ozpin said as the doors opened to reveal Ozpin's office. "As far as we can tell Qrow, what he says is the truth. He knew nothing of Remnant, and his suit isn't even powered by dust. In fact, he didn't even know what dust was until we explained it." Ozpin explained as the three of them went to Ozpin's desk where the headmaster sat behind it with Glynda and Qrow remaining in front of it.

"Wait what? Thats impossible... isn't it? I mean, how did he even get here? Some kind of space ship?" Qrow asked incredulously, and Glynda shook her head as she pulled up the recordings inside the emerald forest on the night Nathan had appeared.

"We wish it were that simple. Nathan appeared right in the middle of the emerald forest, so far into it that any other perimeter cameras would have been able to spot him before-hand. Not to mention there were no traces of anything that was akin to a delivery device for him to have gotten here via ship or pod. As far as we can tell, he and his dog literally just materialized in the forest." Glynda said as she surmised what they had first found out about Nathan's arrival. Qrow stared at the screens skeptically, but couldn't deny what was being said, no matter how ridiculous it was. Then something else came to his mind.

"What if it's his semblance? What if he's working for _her_?" Qrow asked somewhat dangerously, making Glynda do a double-take, surprised that the possibility had not occurred to her. New doubt began to spread through her as she considered the possibility. Ozpin could tell too.

"I can assure you he's not. The technology he has on hand is far too foreign to be of any remnant design, and he's never shown any form of hostility towards us or the students he teaches." Ozpin said, speaking up in defense for the man. "Besides, Glynda, did you forget that you were the one that unlocked his aura? There has never been a case where someone has unlocked their semblance before their aura, so unless he is the first of his case, the I highly doubt the man is hiding anything from us." Glynda suddenly remembered that fact as well, and all of the aura training they had done, feeling a little embarrassed about jumping to such conclusions. Qrow considered that fact, but before he could say anything else, the elevator dinged, signaling someone had come up. The automatic doors opened to reveal Nathan, equipped in some casual clothing as he strode into the office. He noticed that everyone was now looking at him, and stopped.

"Uh, I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

* * *

 **Author's notes**

 **Heres another chapter! Now Nathan has revealed his 'secret' to another rather important figure in RWBY. I never saw Nathan as someone that would just keep secrets if he was cornered, unless it wasn't his secret to share. Plus, he's looking for as much help as possible to get back to Boston, so having friends that know his situation and trust him will definitely help. Also, Credit to Black_Hawk931 for editing with me!** **Don't forget If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them in the reviews, It always helps and really keeps me going when I get new reviews!**

 **Now, I'm hoping that I can get the next blades chapter out relatively soon, but let me tell you this chapter took a lot longer than I had originally planned. Hopefully it doesn't take this long in the future. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and as always...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10- Cards on the table

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout or RWBY**

 **Cards on the Table**

"Uh, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Nathan inquired as he stepped further into Ozpin's office, a curious look on his face. Ozpin shook his head with a small smile, urging him further into the room. Glynda seemed embarrassed for some reason, while Qrow seemed a bit miffed about something. "Well it seems like I missed something."

"Nothing important." Ozpin assured him, and while Nathan didn't believe him, he decided to not press the issue. "Now that your here, why don't we see what happened, and lets start with how you both subdued Hazel." Ozpin said folding his hands together under his chin, and Glynda readying a clipboard to take notes. Nathan looked at the two of them, curious as to why exactly they would need notes. But then he thought about what had happened to his armor, and what Hazel's strength might do to a normal person. Qrow took out his flask from a pocket in his jacket and took a swig as Nathan began.

"Well, getting into the warehouse was relatively simple for both of us. I created a distraction by barging into the main warehouse where I tried to do as much damage as possible and secure as much as I could carry. Qrow snuck in with all the chaos and tracked down the white fang member in charge. A few minutes into my assault, Hazel showed up." Nathan paused in his telling to see if anyone had anything to say, and he was right.

"So... your telling me you willingly split up with Hazel Reinhardt on the loose?" Glynda asked skeptically, a critical eye on the two men.

"We didn't know he was there." Qrow defended. "If we did, we would gone through with the mission much differently." Nathan nodded, and Glynda sighed, still believing they could have planned out the operation better.

"Anyways, once Hazel showed up, he held me off for the grunts to get reinforcements, but in the process, I managed to beat him down... with bullets." Nathan said with a bit of humor, but none of the people around him seemed terribly interested in jokes. "I managed to break his aura with my shotgun, but he got quite a few licks in on my armor, as you probably saw. Plus, he jammed some lighting dust into his arm, and gave me a scare when he hit me. But once his aura was broken, I kept firing into him, and eventually he was on the ground, unconscious and bleeding. Some first aid stopped his wounds from killing him, but I imagine they'll leave scars." Ozpin hummed as he thought, Glynda on the other hand had slightly wide eyes as she listened to Nathan give his recount.

"You took down Hazel on your own? And here I was, waiting for you to say that Qrow had showed up to help." Glynda said, slightly aghast that Hazel was taken down by someone that had only unlocked their aura around a month or two ago.

"Why so little faith? Just because you're able to beat me without my power armor doesn't mean I'm helpless." Nathan said, a tad offended at Glynda's surprise.

"Regardless, it was completely reckless to take on such an opponent by yourself, Hazel has taken on and defeated teams of huntsman in the past. It was most likely because he wasn't ready to deal with your variety of weapons that you won." Glynda reprimanded, her lecture mode coming into effect slightly. "Next time it would be best to have support, even if you were ignorant to his capabilities." Nathan raised an eyebrow before mischievous smile dawned on him.

"I didn't know you cared so much Glynda, That really means a lot." Nathan said with a cocky smile, Glynda raised an eyebrow of her own.

"Do not mistake my warning for care, you still have a class to teach, and I doubt Ozpin would be thrilled to know you died in the field due to your own arrogance." Nathan merely chuckled.

"I can assure you I wasn't arrogant. I knew the kind of risk that Hazel could be the moment he stuck my armor. So I stuck with using ranged weapons. And by the way, did anyone ever tell him not to bring a fist to a gunfight?" Glynda shook her head, before she began to detail why exactly Hazel was so dangerous. The whole time this was going on though, Qrow couldn't help but look on with some astonishment as the 'wicked witch' was talking so familiarly to Nathan. He had seen many a men, and student, try and fail to get so comfy with the combat instructor, and fail miserably. Yet Nathan seemed rather familiar with her already.

"So this guy has a super reduced sense of pain because of his aura?" Nathan asked as Glynda finished her lecture on the criminal. Glynda nodded as Nathan took in that information. "Huh, that explains the dust crystals in his arms."

"Indeed, his tolerance for pain, along with his skill in combat, has proven to be quite troublesome in the past. Which is why I'm extremely grateful for you subduing him." Ozpin said, bringing the conversation back on track. "Eventually I will be interrogating him myself, as there is some crucial info he knows that I must learn as soon as possible." As he said this, he glanced at Glynda and Qrow, a silent understanding of what he meant. Nathan seemed to realize that there was some kind of undertone to that statement he was missing, but once again decided to ignore it.

"Well, I suppose around the same time he was doing that, I was taking on their lieutenant. He was a bit tricky because of his semblance, but other than that, nothing too special. After that we tied them up and put an aura suppressor on Hazel." Qrow said nonchalantly, with Glynda raising an eyebrow suspiciously. Nathan shrugged, unsure of how the fight had gone.

"I see. Well, its good that the mission was successful, and that you are both unharmed for the most part. Is there anything else that happened that might be useful?" Ozpin inquired, to which Nathan nodded, a serious expression now on his face.

"Well, we learned that all the equipment and dust gathering hasn't been just to get a surplus. They're planning something, and if the amount of stuff in that warehouse is any indication, its something big, but probably only recently started really preparing for it." Nathan said, his serious expression not fading. Ozpin's eyes seemed to widen, as well as Glynda's, and they briefly looked at one another. "And if their proximity to Vale is anything to go by..."

"Well, I think thats a bit of a stretch, but the amount of stuff they had there, and the number of hands they had ready to come in as back-up means that something is going on." Qrow interjected, still a bit skeptical about coming to any concrete conclusions. Nathan nodded, understanding why he might not want to rush to anything.

"That is... concerning to say the least. I'll be sure to bring this up when I go to the police department later. We'll be sure to be on watch in case of any other kind of suspicious activity regarding the white fang." Ozpin said, already opening up his scroll, supposedly to contact someone at Vale.

"So what now? I guess I go back to teaching right? And Qrow goes back to doing... huntsman stuff?" Nathan asked curiously, and Glynda merely shrugged a bit.

"I suppose yes, everything should go back to normal for the foreseeable future. Although I imagine Qrow might want to say hello to his nieces before he leaves." Glynda said with a sly grin towards the veteran huntsman, to which he scratched the back of his neck, as if guilty about something.

"You have nieces?" Nathan's question was met with a groan from Qrow and a small chuckle from Glynda.

* * *

Glynda walked with both Nathan and Qrow as they took a walk around the school grounds. Earlier when Nathan and Qrow had first arrived, it was early enough that classes had just come into session. But now it was coming time for the periods to shift, and so there were a few students about, dotting the courtyard with their forms, many of them moving to another class or stopping to get something from a vending machine.

"Since you have just come back from a mission Nathan, you can wait until tomorrow to start your classes again, today, you can just relax." Glynda said matter of factly. Nathan smiled as he heard that, thinking about what kind of projects he could work on since he had the time. "Although I recommend you visit Dogmeat first. I've been keeping him company every once and a while, but I can tell he missed you." Nathan paused as he heard that, stopping and eyeing Glynda inquisitively.

"You visited Dogmeat while I was away? I left him with enough food for half a week, you didn't have to do that." Nathan said gratefully, a pleasantly surprised expression on his face. Glynda merely nodded.

"Yes, I was unsure of your dog's predicament, but considering your nature towards the canine, I should have assumed he'd be well situated." Glynda said calmly.

"But you still kept him company while I was away, that was very thoughtful of you." Nathan said earnestly, making Glynda look at him with slightly wider eyes. "I think I will go see Dogmeat then, Although I was just there when I dropped my armor off. I know you might not think much of it, but thanks for watching out for Dogmeat." Glynda merely nodded, although there was just a slight shade of pink to her cheeks. Nathan began to walk away but nudged Qrow's shoulder as he passed. "See you around Qrow, I'll buy you a drink sometime if you want." Qrow merely smirked as he nodded, and Nathan walked towards the workshop of the school, and the two veteran huntsman and huntress watched him leave.

"So, I take it you like him?" Qrow teased, looking back at Glynda with a cocksure grin. Glynda narrowed her eyes dangerously at the drunk.

"He has been a trustworthy member of the staff here at Beacon and has proven to be a hard worker. You could say I 'like' him, but it is purely professional." Glynda said strictly, making Qrow raise his eyebrows in amusement. The huntress turned away and began to walk in the direction of her own class. "Now, if you want to see Ruby and Yang, follow me, we'll be starting combat class shortly." Qrow followed along, an amused smile still on his face as he travelled to see his nieces.

* * *

Weiss watched as her teammate, Yang, proceeded to combat a member of team COAL ruthlessly in the arena. The Blonde's opponent used a sniper rifle, and seemed to not be specialized or even prepared for the intense beatdown that the brawler was dishing out. Yang threw two hooks in a row, the team COAL member managing to dodge both, but left himself open for Yang to come in for a clean uppercut.

"What was his name again?" Weiss asked Blake in a hushed whisper, the quiet girl glancing at her briefly before looking back at the fight and responding.

"Ash, I believe." Blake said, her yellow eyes watching the match carefully as her partner sidestepped an attempted shot from her opponent's rifle. Yang jumped at her opponent, a confident and excited smile on her face, her fist reared back to deliver a powerful looking punch. Ash managed to shift his rifle around and block the attack with the butt of his gun. Yang did not let up however as she simply moved to his side, and struck three times in quick succession, her shotgun bracers activating each time. Ash's aura ignited in protest, but everyone could tell he couldn't last much longer, especially considering the percentage it was at.

"Yangs doing really good!" Ruby whispered, but her excitement was evident by her tone. Weiss glanced at her partner, unsure why she would be so excited considering the blonde's impressive combat capabilities, but remained silent, continuing to watch as Yang overpowered Ash, disarming him and laying into his body with nearly a dozen powerful punches, only stopping at the sound of a familiar buzzer. Weiss swore she heard the team COAL member groan in pain as he fell to the ground, overwhelmed by the punishment his aura and body went through.

The match ended as Ash's aura went into the red, with Yang's still at a healthy 89%. No one clapped however as Glynda began to talk to both students about their performance and how they might improve, and what mistakes they made during the fight. Ruby fist pumped at her sister's victory, as obvious as the outcome had been from the offset.

"It was kind of obvious Yang was going to win when she scored fifteen consecutive punches on him in one go." Weiss said as she observed small Ruby's celebration.

"I know, but she's still my sister and teammate! Rooting for her is like, mandatory. Plus, I just like to see a good fight." Ruby said, as if it was common sense as to why she would cheer. Weiss accepted that, and turned her gaze back to Glynda as both Yang and Ash turned away from the combat instructor to return to the stands. As they did, Glynda herself turned to address the crowd of students.

"Alright everyone, that concludes our combat course, you may carry on to lunch, the next session of classes begins at 12:30. Remember!" Glynda said, raising her voice a little, as the moment she had begun to conclude the class, students were already getting up and gathering their things, creating a lot of noise that might have drowned her out. "I also need Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long to remain here for a few moments." She said, eyeing Yang, who had yet to return to the stands, but froze upon having her name called. Soon the two sisters were in front of her while the rest of the student body left the room.

"So, um... what happened?" Ruby inquired shyly, not used to or expecting to be called out from the rest of the class, while Yang looked more confused if anything. Before Glynda could respond however, a gruff voice called out from behind them.

"Nothing bad, just an old uncle who wanted to visit his nieces." Both girls turned around instantly, recognizing the voice just as quickly.

"Uncle Qrow!" They both exclaimed, more than elated to see their favorite (and only) uncle before them. They jumped at him to give him a hug, and while Ruby latched on to his arm, Yang hugged Qrow's barrel tightly, an action that made Qrow cringe a bit.

"Hey now, yo've got to be easy on me there tiger, I'm not as young as I used to be." Qrow said in a slightly sarcastic manner. Yang let go of him and punched his elbow.

"Your not that old yet." Yang said with a smile, making Ruby giggle. Qrow rolled his eyes as he began to walk off, with Ruby still attached to his arm.

"Cmon, why don't I treat you guys to lunch?" Qrow asked as Yang began to follow, a wry grin on her face.

"Isn't lunch at the cafeteria free though?" Yang asked as she followed her uncle.

"Eh, semantics." Qrow said dismissively, making Yang and Ruby both chuckle.

"So why are you visiting? I mean, not that I don't want you to of course, but I was just wondering." Ruby said, her voice growing a bit quieter at the end. Qrow nodded as he walked.

"We can talk over lunch." Qrow said as they all left the room, leaving Glynda to smile a bit at their conversation. She looked about at the arena and seeing that no other students were present, she gathered the papers on her podium and proceeded to the teacher's rec room where they had lunch. As she made her way there, she saw Oobleck and Port talking as they went in the same direction. Briefly she sped up so she could join them on their walk.

"So if my calculations are correct, then the new design could improve energy creation from dust by an additional 10%, the only problem is getting anyone to try the design. Most city generators and power companies already have a reliable generator design for lightning dust, but I'm hoping they might be open to the idea." Oobleck said, finishing up on some rant Glynda had only caught the tail end of.

"Thats mighty interesting Oobleck, no wonder you teach dust studies along with history... But isn't two percent a bit low to completely replace a tried and true design?" Port asked with interest, having followed the professor's rant for the most part.

"Maybe at first yes, but who knows how long it will be before anything better comes about. So 2% could be worth the investment." Port hummed but shrugged his shoulders. That was when Glynda decided to come up beside the portly professor.

"Trying to bore poor Peter, Bartholomew?" Glynda suddenly asked with a touch of sarcasm. The sudden inclusion in their conversation causing the two men to jump slightly.

"Glynda! As silent as ever I see." Port said, remarking on how sneakily she had come up on them.

"It pays to be light on your feet." Glynda said simply as the three of them moved to the rec room. They bantered lightly as they walked, mostly talking about their classes and students and how they've progressing throughout the past weeks in the school. A few students walked about, going to the cafeteria, passing by the professors casually, most of them too busy talking to each other. They entered the lounge to see it was empty, aside from the normal utilities and such lined throughout the room.

"Well, off to the grab some dinner I suppose." Oobleck said as he placed his thermos on the dining table and proceeded to exit the room as Glynda grabbed her prepared lunch from the fridge.

"As much as I'm tempted to save a little money with going to the cafeteria, I much prefer my own food, much like yourself Glynda." Port said as he too grabbed an old metal lunchbox from the fridge and began to quickly dig into it's contents. Glynda merely nodded as she too dug into her own lunch. They sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying their meals, before Oobleck entered, but with two more following him.

"Well, I'm certainly glad that your mission was successful Nathan, any projects your currently working on?" Oobleck asked as he, Nathan, and Ozpin all entered the room, each with a plate of food from the cafeteria. Dogmeat trailed behind them, the German Shepard with a dog's smile on his face, his tail wagging the whole time.

"Definitely a transforming weapon of some kind, but I'm not sure as to what I really want." Nathan said in a thoughtful manner as he and the others took seats around the table, while Dogmeat sat loyally by Nathan's side. "I was thinking maybe something akin to an assault-rifle-sword combo, but I'm not sure." He continued before taking a bite of his food.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea. What turns you off from it?" Oobleck asked curiously, and Nathan shrugged.

"I don't know, juts a little... bland I guess? I want to make something truly unique and that fits my style of combat. Perhaps something that would wok well with my armor?" Nathan thought aloud, considering a weapon that would require his armor to effectively handle. Certainly the Ash-maker, Big Boy, and the Party-starter were all easier to handle in power armor, but none of them inherently required it.

"Perhaps you could start upgrading your power armor?" Ozpin offered, as he finished a bite of his own lunch, showing interest in the conversation.

"Thats not a bad idea actually." Nathan said absentmindedly. "It would tie in with my current project in finding an alternative power source for the power armor." He continued, making Oobleck look at him with interest.

"Oh? Using dust I suppose?" Oobleck questioned, to which Nathan nodded. "Perhaps I could help you with that..." Nathan rose an eyebrow, while Port sighed, preparing to hear the same speech from before again. Glynda smiled a bit at her fellow professor's expense, and glanced to Nathan, watching him absorb and listen to Oobleck with interest and attention. She could tell that he's probably had experience with this before, but she couldn't think of anything that might allude to why. _Now that I think about it, everything he's told us about his world has been pragmatic, he's said almost nothing about himself or anyone that he trusted there._ She thought with a small frown. _I wonder why though..._

* * *

Nathan sighed happily as he finished the currently empty fusion core that he had custom made. It was the same shape and size of a normal one, but it was colored a dark green, and the side of it now occupied a new plug where he could charge it with lightning dust. It was the only one he had, and while he hadn't even tried it, he was relatively confident it would work. As confident as he could be at least. _Now just to charge it overnight, and test it out in the armor. Given that it won't be a true fusion core, I doubt it won't last as long, but I can't just keep using the real deal here, because of the ones I have, well, thats all there is._ Nathan thought as he got up from his seat within his shop, and walked out into the classroom, seeing that a few of the tables did show some new signs of use.

"Guess the shop has gotten some use while I was away, Hope Ruby and Jaune have still been working on their projects. Ruby is nearly done with her's and Jaune has a few more steps in modifying his weapon, so the next project for them should be something special. Maybe Robotics?" Nathan asked himself as he talked absentmindedly, cleaning up what little there was to organize. When he got to Ruby's desk however he noticed that it was uncharacteristically messy for the girl. It was as if she had just stopped in the middle of whatever she was working on. _She's usually really good about cleaning up, and this was like this when I came to drop off my armor too... What's going on?_ Nathan carefully examined every part of the work desk, looking through the various drawers to see that no tools were missing, and all of the materials were out as well.

"She does always take her project home, like I instructed her... did she complete it already?" Nathan asked himself, slightly impressed by the student's initiative, but then he reminded himself that she made her own sniper-scythe. "Maybe thats not too shocking then. I wonder if she's helped Jaune at all." Thats when he heard three voices coming down the hall towards the shop, he easily recognized the voice of Ruby, but upon hearing the other two chime in on something his eyes widened. He slipped into his private workshop before they came in.

"And here we are!" Ruby said excitedly, one hand pushing open the doors to the shop, while the other held her recently completed project. "This is where I made 'Rose Thorn'" She said, referencing to the six-shooter pistol in her off hand, that was full of fanciful rose like designs from engravings. Yang and Qrow were following close behind with small smiles on their faces. Qrow really didn't need a tour of the school by his youngest niece, but if it made her happy, there was no way he could say no.

"No kidding. I would have thought you had made it in your room." Qrow teased, before ruffling the young reaper's hair, making her giggle a little. Yang walked further into the shop, examining all the tables around her.

"Gonna be honest, haven't worked on Ember Celica in a while. Might want to come by and tune them up sometime." Yang said absentmindedly. "Is your Shop teacher still out on some mission?" She asked her younger sister, Ruby nodding as she approached the desk she most often used.

"Yep, at least, as far as I know he is. Professor Glynda has been watching Dogmeat while Professor Nathan is away." That last statement made Yang look at her curiously and Qrow suddenly go a little wide eyed.

"Who's Dogmeat?" Yang asked normally.

"Did you say, professor Nathan?" Qrow asked with a suspicious tone, and right as he did, the side door opened, and a German Shepard trotted out, followed by Nathan, now holding a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, I was wondering when you would come by and clean up that mess you left behind." Nathan said in a strange mixture of causal and sarcastic, his sudden appearance shocking all three in the shop.

"Professor! Your back!" Ruby said in shock as Nathan approached his desk, taking a sip of his caffeinated beverage.

"Mhm. I just got back." Nathan said, as his gaze shifted to Qrow and Yang. Dogmeat approached the blonde and began to sniff at her legs, her expression going from curious to happy as she knelt down and pet the dog. Qrow hummed as he crossed his arms.

"Professor of Shop Class?" Qrow asked, a skeptical expression on his face as Nathan merely nodded. "Huh. And here I thought you would have taught cooking." He said sarcastically, and Nathan nearly spit out his coffee at the remark.

"Uncle Qrow, do you know Professor Nathan?" Ruby asked curiously, to which the veteran huntsman nodded. Nathan was a bit curious if Qrow would speak about the mission, and so allowed Qrow to lead the explanation. _I don't remember Ozpin saying what was okay to say and what wasn't. I suppose saying I was on a mission isn't that dangerous, but who I was there with..._

"Just got finished doing with a mission with him." Qrow said casually. Nathan looked at him with wide eyes, while Yang and Ruby seemed to 'ooo' a bit at the info. _Well, that answers that question._ Nathan thought to himself.

"What was it like! Did you beat up bad guys?" Ruby asked excitedly. Qrow seemed to think for a minute, before a cheeky smiled appeared on his face.

"Nope." Qrow said with a healthy amount of snark, which seemed to make his nieces giggle a bit. _Well, it seems that they know that mission details aren't something that needs to be discussed. A little surprised Ruby and Yang are his nieces given they call him 'uncle' but its not a huge deal._ Nathan thought as he continued to sip on his afternoon coffee. "So is this all you wanted to how me Ruby? If so, why don't we catch a bite to eat in Vale?" Qrow offered, and Ruby nodded excitedly, Yang voiced her agreement as well. They began to leave the room in a somewhat orderly fashion, with all three of them offering Nathan a small wave as they left, Nathan returning each one.

"That was... interesting." Nathan said to himself, the doors closing after they left. Dogmeat watched them go as well, wagging his tail all the while as if to say 'come back anytime'. He looked back down at the empty blueprint page which he had titled 'power armor upgrades'. Nathan knew there were several technological advances he could take advantage of, with the most prominent being the CCTS and access to a wealth of information that he had never before been able to access. "Now if only I could get better at using this damn computer." He grumbled to himself, glaring at the desktop monitor that he had only turned on a few times. He had distracted himself enough with his project concerning the power core, and had made-by fairly well, but now if he was going to mess around with the hydraulics and other systems within the power armor frame, he was going to need to do a little more research before he altered too much.

He wiggled the mouse a bit, the monitor coming alive in response, and after putting in the password 'Dogmeatiscool' he was met with the few desktop icons that graced it. The only one he was interested in was the internet. While he had gone there a few times, he had found the experience lack-luster mostly because he had only been doing so out of curiosity. Now though, he had a goal.

"Alright, now tell me your secrets." Nathan said to himself as he began his quest for lessons on advanced hydraulics and new technologies that mirrored them. For good measure, he also looked up robotics.

* * *

"This was unexpectedly informing." Nathan said to himself as he watched an extensive video on Atlesian robotics from a site called MyTube. He took quite a few notes about the modern dust engines and how they were able to miniaturize them so effectively. While he had also looked at hydraulic videos, they seemed very similar to what he was familiar with, if slightly faster and more efficient than his own. "Although, they don't really explain how to make those small engines, undoubtedly a trade secret of some kind... But it has given me a bit of inspiration, and if I can get a little more of a budget from Ozpin, I'll buy a few of those engines and reverse-engineer them." Nathan said confidently as he made some more notes on the notepad he was using. He glanced out his window and realized that night had fallen on the school.

 _Damn, I missed dinner too._ Nathan thought, but he was preoccupied with his searching to even realize. _Oh well._ He shrugged as he finished his notes and soon got ready to call it a night. As he did, and walked to his shop, he saw that Dogmeat was already sat on the old couch he had gotten when he first moved in. Nathan glanced around, seeing his still dented up armor and the two of the heavier weapons he had taken. _I have quite a bit of work for the next few days._ Nathan was about to call it a night, but he heard a distant knock, he recognized from the distance, it was his class's door. He left his personal shop, and went to the class door, and opening it up. Ozpin was on the other side, a cane in one hand, and his other behind his back, a small smile on his face.

"Ozpin!" Nathan said, surprised the headmaster would come visit him so late.

"Nathan, I hope your having a good evening." Ozpin said, not affected by Nathan's reaction.

"Yea, uh, here come in." Nathan said, opening the door more and allowing Ozpin to come in to the shop. Ozpin stepped in with a nod and looked around, a small smile still present on his face as he looked around. Nathan followed him as he walked over to the desk, and Nathan stood beside him, a curious expression on his face.

"I apologize for visiting so late, but what I wanted to ask you requires me to be careful for who might overhear." Ozpin said, suddenly getting serious. Nathan looked at him confused for a moment, before he nodded, leaning against the desk with his arms crossed, waiting for Ozpin to continue. "Now, I know my compatriots would not necessarily approve of this, but I've seen what you can do, and how easily you dispatched Hazel. So I feel you can be trusted." He said, Nathan raising an eyebrow, curious about where this conversation was going. Ozpin paused, and sighed, fearing how Nathan might react considering the world he came from. _If I'm going to get people to trust me, I must first be willing to trust._ Ozpin thought as he remembered those words of wisdom spoken to him so long ago.

"Tell me Nathan..." Ozpin began, the Sole Survivor's eyebrow rising curiously. "Do you believe in fairy tales?" Nathan kept his skeptical look, and he briefly looked around them, expecting to see some hidden camera or other evidence that the headmaster was kidding, but based off his expression and tone, he wasn't. Now that Nathan recalled though, there were definitely some subjects in the wasteland that could certainly be considered fairy tale-esk.

"I'm open to them being real if they have proof I suppose." Nathan replied with a shrug. Ozpin's eyes widened a bit as the sole survivor said this, but then gave a small knowing smile.

"I must say I don't hear that answer often. And every time I do, I am pleasantly surprised." Ozpin said happily, before his he turned away, a nostalgic smile on his face. "I suppose you already know a good portion Remnants history, but I really doubt you know about the maidens..."

* * *

 **Author's notes**

 **Still alive, still writing, still in quarantine. Hope you guys are staying safe too, remember to be careful out there. This does give me a lot of time to write, so thats good!**

 **With another chapter of shop Class out, I know that it isn't terribly long, especially when you compare it to the length of my blades chapters. However this chapter was mostly concluding on the last mission, and setting up for future events. I don't have that much else to say about it though. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and as always...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11-Just the Beginning

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout or RWBY**

 **Just the Beginning**

Nathan listened to Ozpin's tale with interest, but also with skepticism. The headmaster described a pair of brother gods that created life, and the Grimm, an old wizard more or less gave four young maidens magical powers in accordance with each of the four seasons. As Ozpin continued, Nathan could see how this was very obviously a fable. At least thats what he would have normally assumed if it wasn't for what Ozpin had said before-hand. As Ozpin finished his tale, Nathan rose his brow.

"So your telling me all this stuff about maidens and magic is real?" Nathan asked incredulously. "And your telling me because... you trust me?" Ozpin seemed to shift his weight as he considered how to answer.

"I do trust you, but thats not why I'm telling you this." Ozpin said, staring at Nathan with a decidedly serious expression. "I'm telling you, because I want your help." Nathan's eyebrow rose even more. "You are from another world, and given what you have have told me of it, a world of advanced technology and science. I would like your help to further remnant's technological development to combat the Grimm." Nathan's expression went from incredulous to accusatory rather quickly.

"I don't see why I would need to do that. I've seen what Atlas Airships look like online, and I know they have automatons to do their fighting for them. So why are you really asking me?" Nathan asked, a far more accusatory and hostile tone to his voice. "Because if your asking me how to make a Nuclear bomb, you can forget it." Ozpin shook his head.

"I'm not asking for that, what I'm more interested in are the energy weapons and robots that you have mentioned previously." Nathan was slightly more relived that Ozpin wasn't after the designs to a nuclear warhead, but Nathan still wasn't ready to give up such information. _Then again, I owe Ozpin a lot, between letting em stay here, allowing em to do my work, and providing materials for me to work with. But still, the knowledge on how to make energy weapons and military grade robots isn't anything light._

"I don't know Ozpin, your asking a lot, and while I'm thankful you've let me stay here and let me try to get home, asking me to give up potentially devastating knowledge isn't something I take lightly." Ozpin merely nodded, looking at the desk in the room.

"I understand, and I admit that I haven't told you everything, but I ask that you keep our conversation here a secret at the least. If you consider my offer, you know how to contact me." Ozpin said, beginning to make his way to the door. Nathan consider his words for a few moments and as Ozpin approached the door, Nathan had one last question he needed to ask Ozpin.

"The tech from my world. Why do you need it? Is it really just the Grimm you wish to combat?" Nathan asked, making Ozpin pause, a tense moment followed. Nathan was unsure why, but by Ozpin's stiff posture, he believed he might have struck at something.

"Them, and their master." That was the last thing Nathan heard as Ozpin left the room, leaving Nathan to ponder over everything he had just learned. Nathan sighed as he went to his Pipboy, a bottle of whiskey materializing in front of him. He poured himself a shot in a cup he had lying around, quickly gulping it down. As the alcohol burned his throat, and relaxed his muscles, Nathan was left to his thoughts, mulling on how to respond to the headmaster.

* * *

"Do you have to go so soon?" Ruby asked, disappointment clearly on her face. Qrow merely rubber her had in response, an attempt to ease her complaint. Yang was behind the young reaper, a slightly wry smile on her face, understanding of her sister's disappointment, but also of their uncle's need to continue his work elsewhere. It was early morning, all three of them by the bullhead platform, with said airship ready to take off. It was the day after Qrow had arrived, but due to the kind of work he did, he couldn't stay.

"Sorry kiddo, but I've got other jobs to do that aren't in Vale." Qrow said, removing his hand with an apologetic look. "Someones got to go save the world." Ruby nodded solemnly. "I'll be back for the Vital Festival though. So it won't be long before you see me again." Ruby's sadness was suddenly overcome with an eager smile.

"Really!?" She asked hopefully. Qrow gave her a snarky smile in response.

"Nope." The sarcastic tone in which he said that word though, told Ruby he meant the opposite, causing her to giggle in amusement. Qrow turned around and began to walk towards the bullhead. "Take care of her Yang." He said, waving a hand with his back turned.

"Always!" Yang said loudly, raising her voice to reach her uncle, who was now close enough to the bullhead to make hearing anything else more difficult. He didn't respond, but stepped into the bullhead, the door soon sliding closed, and the bullhead lifting off soon after, leaving the two sisters by themselves.

"Well, it was fun when he was here." Ruby said with a small smile. Yang nodded as the two of them went to start their classes for the day. "Qrow told me that Professor Nathan's classes start back again today. I'll let Jaune know too." She said absentmindedly, the two of the soon making it inside the school proper.

"Say Ruby?" Yang inquired, earning a curious glance from her younger sister. "What do you say I join you in Shop Class?" Yang asked, her younger sister becoming excited from the prospect.

"You totally should! In fact... Weiss and Blake should too!" Ruby cheered, as if the two mentioned had already agreed. Yang merely rolled her eyes as they continued towards their first class. Thankfully, the teacher had yet to arrive, meaning that they weren't late.

"Say your goodbyes?" Weiss offered as Yang and Ruby approached their two teammates, Blake merely nodding towards them as they took their seats.

"Yep!" Ruby proclaimed happily, clearly in a bright mood. "Say, I was thinking, what if you and Blake started going to the shop class with me, Yang, and Jaune!" Weiss looked at Ruby incredulously, looking down to the next set of seats in front of them where team JNPR was, with the team leader stealing glances at her.

"I don't think so." Weiss said bluntly. "I am quite happy with Myrtenaster." _Not to mention, that blonde buffoon would undoubtedly be eyeing me the whole time._ Weiss thought to herself, ignoring the disappointed look on her partner's face.

"Aw, come on, it'll be fun!" Ruby insisted, but Weiss made no move to change her answer. The Heiress was about to instead retort with her own inquiry as to why Ruby would want to go to the class in the first place, but Blake beat her to it.

"From what Yang has told me, your really skilled in weapon crafting and such. Why did you go to the shop class in the first place?" While originally Blake had thought Ruby would be interested in the class, due to what Yang said, she found herself genuinely curious about her reasoning.

"At first it was just to hang out with other people that are interested in making weapons and stuff, but then Professor Nathan convinced me to make a sidearm to go with Crescent Rose. Plus he said there are plenty of things he could teach me, like robotics or machinery!" She said excitedly, with Weiss raising an eyebrow.

"You mean that revolver you've been working on? And how exactly did the Professor convince you?" Weiss asked, snark evident in her voice. Ruby seemed rather eager to answer, remembering how Nathan had managed to convince her.

"What would you do if Myrtenaster was taken from you?" Ruby asked a bit excitedly, clearly expecting a particular response, making Weiss raise an eyebrow.

"Use my semblance to push whoever took it away, and take it back." Weiss responded smartly, Ruby having a victorious grin on her face.

"And what if whoever took it takes a hammer to it?" Ruby asked curiously, her victorious gaze making Weiss look at her haughtily.

"I wouldn't be worried. Myrtenaster is made out of the finest Atlesian Hunter-grade Titanium. I'm not concerned over it being harmed." Weiss said with pride, making Ruby deflate a bit, but also causing her eyes to go wide.

"Myrtenaster is made out of Titanium!?" She exclaimed, clearly excited over this new revelation. Yang just chucked while Blake rose an eyebrow, believing Ruby would have already known. Unfortunately, Professor Port walked in soon after, snuffing any hope of continuing the conversation. Ruby hoped that she had at least supplanted the idea that Shop Class wasn't boring or just about weapons. Weiss might not come, but she hoped Blake would consider it.

* * *

Nathan was busy researching the mechanics behind different weapon transformations as he fiddled with his own attempt at a transforming weapon. He had decided on a cross between an assault rifle and an axe. Not creative, but a good start, and one where he didn't need to worry about messing up as everything was made from scrap. He realized now after a few videos that Hunter's weapons were usually made out of something called hunter-grade material. Which was a fancy way of saying 'really durable 'this kind of metal''. Steel seemed to be the most common, but there was bronze, iron, copper, cobalt, tungsten, and even titanium. It all usually depended on your budget or what kind of 'look' you wanted for your weapon. Usually hunter-grade metals were infused with earth dust to make them very durable. But this also came with the caveat of a much higher meting temperature. Meaning it was more dangerous and more tricky to work with those kinds of metal. This wasn't a problem with materials like copper or bronze with their naturally 'lower' meting points, but even with just Steel, it made things more complicated or required better equipment.

He was just using scrap steel, as were his students for their projects, and he became genuinely concerned for Jaune's project. After all, he was messing with what was probably hunter-grade iron or something, and using some scrap steel to make his enhancement. Jaune probably didn't even know himself. It was good they were only altering the shield for now.

As much as the lure of hunter-grade stuff was, it was expensive, hard come by, and even harder to work with. He would stick with normal steel, but if this was to be true Shop class, he would have to learn to work with the material anyway. It made him rethink how he convinced Ruby to make a secondary weapon, but figured that it was still a legitimate concern if her weapon was taken. They did make hammers out of the same material, and of course, someone could always just try to take it apart, which would be just as bad.

Nathan continued his project in silence, only the sound of him working, Dogmeat's silent breathing, and the video Nathan was watching were heard throughout the shop. He continued his crafting until he finished with the receiver of the gun, the barrel, and the blade, tomorrow he would work on the moving parts, a content smile on his face. He looked at the time and realized it was nearly time for Shop Class.

He put his project up and prepared the materials they would probably need to continue their projects, or to move on to their next one. _If Ruby is finished with her sidearm we might as well move onto something different. I'm thinking some basic robotics. I'm sure she'd be interested._ Nathan thought, bringing out a few robotics textbook that he had started, but not finished due to him knowing most of the fundamentals of making such devices himself. He would need them if she was interested. About that time the door opened to reveal three figures, two of which were expected, being Ruby and Jaune, but seeing Yang was a welcome surprise.

"Well well, looks like we've got ourselves a new student!" Nathan said gleefully, earning a bright smile from both sisters. Yang stepped forward and scratched the back of her head.

"Yea, well, I figured that since Ruby was having a good time here, I might as well come and see what all the fuss is about." Yang said with a grin, earning one from Nathan as well.

"Well then, welcome to Shop Class." Nathan said with a smile. "Go ahead and take a seat. We have some catching up to do, and then we'll start with our regular stuff." They all nodded and took their regular seats, with Yang sitting beside Ruby on the front row. "Alright, so, Jaune, Ruby, how have your projects come along?" Ruby beamed as she brought out a small gun case, opened it up and proudly showed off a black and red revolver, the rather large gun for a girl her size had a sleek design to it, with a hexagon-shaped barrel, and a blocky, but smooth hammer at the back, with a finely made rose pattern on the handle.

"The Rose Thorn is ready for action!" She exclaimed excitedly, allowing everyone to get a good view of the revolver.

"Looks exactly like the one in your design, with the exception of the engravings on the handle. A nice touch." Nathan praised, pleased with the final result of Ruby's project.

"Thanks! Although since it's not made of any hunter-grade metal, it won't be able to take as much of a beating as Crescent Rose would." Ruby said, more so for Yang than anyone. Nathan nodded at that, and turned to Jaune.

"Well mine is coming along pretty well actually, Pyrrha and Ren offered to help, and I've managed to get the mechanism down." Jaune said, taking out his collapsable shield and flipping a switch on the inside. The shield's sides popped out, still connected to the central plate, and folded inwards as if to further protect the hand holding it. Currently there were no gun emplacements, but there was definitely room for that. The shielded was now heavier than before, but now offered more versatility for the huntsman knight.

"Thats great, both of you. Jaune, I want you to keep working on your shield project, and if I can make a recommendation since you hadn't decided the last time we talked, I would recommend shotguns in your gun mounts there, that way if an enemy gets too close you can surprise them and maybe end the fight quick, especially if you've loaded earth dust rounds." Jaune nodded, and had a thoughtful expression on his face as he collapsed his shield and sat back down. "And Ruby, since you've completed your sidearm and its now rea- have you fired it yet?" Ruby gave a thumbs up motion, making Nathan nod. "-ready, how would you feel about learning robotics?" He said with a hidden grin, Ruby 'ooing' at the prospect.

"Robotics sounds cool, I'm in!" Ruby said with a fist bump, confirming Nathan's assumptions about the girl's response.

"Alright then, Yang." Nathan said, now addressing the newest member of their class, the blonde look at him with a laidback grin. "I have three options for you. Either you can do what Jaune is doing and alter your current weapon to improve upon it in some way, make a secondary weapon like what Ruby has done with Rose Thorn, or you can research Robotics with Ruby. Your choice." The sudden offer actually made Yang stumble a bit, her eyes widening slightly.

"You letting me choose what I do next?" Yang asked with genuine surprise, Nathan merely nodding in response. "This _is_ the best class." Yang said with amusement. "I think I'll improve upon Ember Celica here. As fun as it would be to make a sidearm or something, I don't really see myself using anything other than my fists to take down Grimm." Yang's response wasn't unexpected but Nathan found himself still concerned about her lack of ranged weaponry, much like how Jaune was concerned with his own lack of ranged fighting. _She reminds me of Cait as well, and just like with the Irish girl, I doubt Yang would just give in to switching fighting styles._ Nathan mused to himself.

"Well, If thats what you want to do, then feel free, but I would recommend that you have a secondary weapon, especially since you seem to prefer hand-to-hand, but if a Grimm is somehow immune to that or can take advantage of that, well..." Nathan didn't have to continue, but Yang waved it off.

"Psh. I'll be fine. So, I guess you want me to like, what? Draw up a design?" Nathan nodded, and went to grab some blank prints she could use.

"If you could, and if you're having trouble picturing what you want, just ask me, I'm here to help you." Nathan replied supportively. Yang nodded as she grabbed the blueprints and a pencil and began to draw out a design for an improvement upon her gauntlets. Nathan walked over to his desk, picked up a book, and placed it on Ruby's desk. "As for you, we're going to go over the basics of Robotics with this, aftreward I'll be teaching you without any books on how to make your own Automata." Ruby nodded with determination as she opened it up.

* * *

Nathan nodded at Yang's design as he looked it over to determine if anything needed to be corrected. He was pleased that her design was pretty practical and didn't mess with the design of the original gauntlets, instead, her new design would allow her to attach small dust explosives to her opponent by a small switch to alternate between the shotguns and this new mode.

Ruby was taking to robotics well enough, although she was new to the electronics aspect of them, and so needed some assistance there. He would probably need to help her if they ever got into coding as well. The hardware aspect of robotics she seemed mostly fine with at least. as expected considering what she's been able to do on her own. Nathan sighed as he began to organize his notes on what to go over for the next few weeks with her, as well as how he might be able to get other students caught up if they ever decided to try robotics as well.

Nathan then glanced at Jaune's further alteration to his shield, adding in both shotguns and assault rifle configurations into the shield to have more versatility. He would have less ammo storage to work with with each installed firearm, but it seemed that was something he was willing to sacrifice. The Sole Survivor also noted that Jaune appeared to want to alter the sword in some way as well, having multiple different designs planned. They couldn't all be utilized, so he would have to choose one.

Around that time Dogmeat came up to Nathan and laid down by his legs, resting his head on the floor contently. Nathan then thought about his own ongoing projects with the weapon, the charged, but not tested, dust fusion core, and his planned alterations to the power armor frame.

"Although... what if I just made a new frame with dust-based tech and see if that functions any better than the normal hydraulic one?" Nathan asked himself, the idea just coming to him. "That sounds like a decent enough idea, plus it would let me keep using the X-01 armor and the fusion cores I have. They should still work with dust-tech if its just lightning dust. If anything, it might work better." Nathan said to himself, his new idea soon being drawn onto some blueprints, but without taking measurements, he could only do some basic pattern ideas.

"It seems like every time I really start to work on something, I start to get ideas for another project." Nathan said to himself, a bit exasperated by himself. He shook his head as he looked over to his shop, where not only his still beaten power armor rested, but also his failed attempt at traveling back to earth was. He silently wondered what exactly his companions had been doing since his departure.

* * *

 **One week earlier, The Castle, Boston Commonwealth**

"What do you mean he just disappeared!?" A very agitated woman asked impatiently. She wore a red leather jacket and an old beret, along with a green scarf around her neck, there was also a handmade pin on her jacket that said 'Public Occurrences'. She was currently inside of Preston Garvey's office within the Castle, which is also known as the General's office and desk. While still not the General, he has been the acting head of the minutemen ever since Nathan's sudden disappearance.

"I just told you, he's been missing for coming on three months now." Preston, stated with a sigh, bemoaning how the information managed to get to Piper. Although knowing her, she pulled some strings. "He said he needed to go to Nuka World to help kick things off into making that place a suitable settlement, but when I radioed in about a week later, Nuka World said they had never seen Nathan even enter the park." Preston explained, making Piper bite her nail, thinking about the possibilities. "I sent out an encoded radio beacon for him to come back or at least make contact with with a minuteman patrol, or a settlement he could contact us by, but nothings come about in that time." As he continued, Piper began to pace, her unease growing.

"Does anyone else know?" Piper asked tentatively, and was given the answer by a familiar voice.

"Well me for one." Piper almost groaned as the familiar Irish accent of Cate entered her ears. Piper turned around to see the Irish brawler wearing the modified minuteman duster Nathan had made for her along with a power-fist nearly settled on her waist. "An' how exactly do you know about it?" She then shot an accusatory glance at Preston. "This was supposed to be hush hush amongst the minutemen unless something drastic happened or he was gone for more than six months." Preston shook his head.

"I know, but you and I both know how Piper is, she'll get the story one way or another." Preston said gently, attempting to ease some humor into the conversation with little success.

"Which is exactly why you should let me and Nick help you guys! Nick himself is the best private investigator in the commonwealth, why not ask him?" Piper asked with aggravation, slightly upset that these two would keep her in the dark this way.

"Wo do you think I went to after he wouldn't respond to the encoded message?" Preston chastised gently, making Piper stop with slightly wider eyes. "Since we basically have most of the commonwealth under minutemen jurisdiction, he said he would investigate Far Harbor and report weekly." Piper nodded, and looked at Preston with a serious, yet curious expression.

"And?" Piper asked, her full question not needing to be stated.

"Nothin." Cate answered, slightly downtrodden by repeating the news she had been hearing for the past two months. Piper also lowered her head, not only because of the bad news, but also because of the shame of being so accusatory to Preston and Cate.

"I'm sorry." Piper finally said, breaking a moment of sad silence between them.

"Its okay, we understand you worrying." Preston responded, Cait merely nodding in agreement.

"So... now what?" Piper asked, genuinely curious about what came next now that Nathan was officially missing. "Do we let everyone else know? Does Curie know?" Preston shook his head.

"She's been busy with getting one of the old hospitals in the commonwealth back together for service... with Minutemen support of course. She's also being helped out by Codsworth as well, so he isn't aware either." Piper nodded at the news, rather not surprised. "None of us have had the heart to tell them." Although this brought on an inquisitive expression from Cate.

"Say, doesn't Nate have buddies in the Brotherhood and Railroad? Why haven't we seen any of them around?" Cate asked, this sparking unsure expressions from the other two inside of Preston's office.

"No we haven't. I assume you mean Deacon and Paladin Dance?" Preston inquired, somewhat familiar with Nathan's other companions from the Brotherhood and Railroad. Cate shrugged, not knowing their names. "Haven't seen them, Paladin Dance is pretty easy to spot, but if Deacon decided to gather info, I don't know if anyone but me would be able to spot him." Piper raised her eyebrow, suspicious of the claim, but Cate merely shrugged.

"Well, I guess as long as they don't bother us, its no big deal." Cate said but Piper approached Preston with a serious gaze.

"Can you at least tell me the last place he was seen? Maybe Nick missed something if he investigated." Preston sighed as he stood up from the chair behind the desk and approached an old map of Boston and the area around it that was hanging on the wall. He pointed to concord with a grim expression.

"Last place we heard, he was leaving Sanctuary heading towards Diamond City. Said he had to make a stop first though, we searched in all possible locations, all of Concord, Abernathy Farms, Starlight Drive in, you name it. We found a grand total of nothing besides loose brass, burn marks, and well, dog droppings." Preston informed Piper, the reporter's face growing more grim as he continued. "Your welcome to look yourself, but be careful, Maybe you can take Cate with you, she's been itching to leave the Castle for a while now." Preston suggested with a small smile, with both Piper and Cate looking at each other reluctantly.

"I could use an extra hand." Piper admitted, and Cate shrugged.

"I suppose I'd do more good going out and lookin' rather than staying in here and rotting away." Cat said dryly, making Preston nod with his permission. Piper made to leave, the two women saying their goodbyes to Preston as they began their trek towards northwest Boston. As they left the nearly rebuilt Castle, Piper smiled slyly as she looked at Cate.

"So, how have the Minutemen been treating you? Beaten you into shape yet?" Piper asked humorously, Cate scoffing a bit.

"I'll admit, their training is tough, not sure if thats because of Nathan's doing or not, but it certainly wasn't enough to break me if thats what you mean." Cate defended strongly, with Piper merely rolling her eyes. They both got quiet for a little while before Cate spoke up again. "I got promoted last month. With Nathan's disappearance, the number of recruits growing, and my own experience, Preston decided to promote me to Staff Sargent. Things are still kinda informal as things grow, and the celebration wasn't much, but... It felt strange with Nathan not there." Cate admitted somberly, Piper remaining quiet and allowing Cate to vent a little. When she was done, Piper nodded, somewhat understanding how that might feel.

"I can see why you'd feel like that. Nathan's done a lot for us. All of us. The entire commonwealth. It feels weird that he's just suddenly gone." Piper said, sympathizing with Cate's troubles. The brawler didn't respond, instead deciding to just hum her agreement as the two of them set off.

* * *

 **Present Time, Beacon Academy**

"So, do you like going to Shop Class with Ruby?" Blake asked Yang as the two partners were in their dorm, the only two awake as Ruby and Weiss had called in for the night. Yang thought about it for a moment, and shrugged.

"Its alright I guess, This has given me a few ideas for Ember Celica, and Professor Nathan is pretty smart. Gave me a lot of feedback with my redesign. Plus, just like with Jaune, he said that when I actually start redesigning my weapon, he'll give me a pass in combat class that'll allow me to attend but not require me to participate." Yang said casually, before coming over from her place by the desk, and hopping into the lower bunkbed underneath Blake. "Hope the design doesn't take super long though, I actually like combat class."

"I doubt it will take long." Blake comforted, before returning to her book. The small lamp next to her illuminating the literature. Yang nodded to herself, thinking about the rest of the last week and how she had accompanied Ruby to each shop class, working on her design and now actually beginning to break down her weapon and make the upgrades, although she had only worked on it that same day, and was not yet done with it. Already though, she was excited to use it, and her sister had been eager to see the new design in action as well. She also recalled how Jaune had finally finished his shield alteration, with Nathan giving him the go ahead to test it in combat class by the next week. Yang admitted that she hoped that the young huntsman-in-training would at least win one match with his new upgrade, if nothing else than to break the monotony of him losing every match he participates in.

"Yea, probably." Yang said with a shrug, adjusting herself in her sheets, getting comfortable in the bed. Blake yawned as she turned her lamp off and also adjusted herself for bed. "Say, you ever consider going to shop class? Even if you won't want a second weapon or upgrade your own, The professor is teaching Ruby robotics." That particular statement caught Blake's attention. She had no intention of learning it herself, but the fact it was being taught was intriguing.

"He's teaching her robotics?" Yang nodded even though her partner couldn't see.

"Yep, pretty cool to see Ruby getting so into it too." Yang said with a smile, Blake humming as she thought about it.

"Did he say where he learned it from? I mean, the only reliable source of robotics in Remnant is Atlas." Blake said with an inquisitive tone, Yang thought back to any mentioning of Nathan's experience, but only know that he was mostly going by a textbook for Ruby.

"Noting much really. He said that the textbook he was using was just the basics, and that he would teach her more advanced stuff later without a book or something like that." Yang said casually, making Blake somewhat grow in worry. _Atlas doesn't let it's secrets of robotics out easily, and the other kingdoms only have basic robotics, nothing that a textbook wouldn't be able to teach. At least I think._ Blake thought, going through her internal catalog of knowledge on the rather specific subject. _The only reason I can think of him doing stuff without a textbook is making advanced robotics, and I doubt Beacon would hire some random bozo off the side of street that claimed to make robots._ Blake shook here head, an odd chill going down her spine. _So this is probably someone from atlas or maybe even a defected member of the military? Too much I don't know I suppose._ Blake stopped as she realized she was probably reading too much into a mere shop class teacher.

"Huh. Alright then." Blake finally replied, effectively finishing the conversation. "Goodnight Yang, see you in the morning."

"Night Partner." Yang said cheerily and causally, making Blake smile and roll her eyes at how open and accepting Yang was to her. _If only she knew._ Blake lamented, silently fearing the day any of her teammates discovered her past.

* * *

Nathan walked the grounds of the school as the broken moon soared high, looking about with little interest. His little walk was for one purpose, to let him think on Ozpin's proposal. He was tempted to go through with it considering the greater state of the world and what he's learned from the CCTS, he wasn't sure if it was enough to give over the secrets to advanced AI and energy weapon technologies. His Pipboy was the real treasure though, as while he had memorized many recipes and schematics mostly by heart, there were some that were dangerous or strange enough to require him to dip into his Pipboy's databanks. His basic T-shirt and Jeans walked with him, the newest addition to his wardrobe. He found they were surprisingly comfortable, if quite unprofessional.

"Whatever my decision is now, or if I juts put it off, It'll have consequences." Nathan said to himself, sighing somewhat dejectedly at being faced with another difficult decision. _I suppose life is full of them, but why do I always get the really world changing ones?_ Nathan asked himself as he walked, looking at the unfamiliar stars. _But there could be a lot of good done here too. I mean, what if people could rely on auto-turrets instead of always having guards around villages and cities? Or have a single sentry bot to patrol a road to keep Grimm away from it? It would probably mess with the economy of the world to no end, and definitely change things up, but still..._

"Nathan?" A familiar voice called behind him, and he turned around to see Glynda looking at him with a questioning gaze. She wasn't wearing her normal teacher attire, but instead was wearing what appeared to be a modest black nightgown, covering her frame almost completely. Nathan also noticed that she had her riding crop with her. "What are you doing out here so late?" Her question was one of genuine concern with just a hint of suspicion, making Nathan sigh.

"Just came out here to think thats all, I found that either working on a new device or taking a stroll is the best time to do this, and considering all I've done for the past month is work on projects, I thought this would be a nice change of pace." Nathan replied honestly, seeing Glynda relax a bit.

"I can understand, sometimes we all need some time to ourselves." Glynda said, making a move to leave. "Then I'll leave you to it. I saw you wandering and I was curious." She said calmly, making Nathan laugh a bit. Glynda paused at his laughter, an eyebrow raised.

"If you want to stay you can, I'd appreciate the company actually." Nathan said with a small laugh still in his speech. Glynda stopping to think on the request before nodding and walking over to his side, her expression unchanging. They both stood in silence, enjoying the cool night air. Glynda brushed some of her hair out of her eyes, as she had tied it up in a hurry earlier when she saw Nathan out here by himself. She had originally though he could have been out here for some maintenance, but upon realizing he wasn't wearing any work clothes, and had no tools, she decided to see what could have been wrong herself. She really needed to get to sleep, as she had an early start to the day, but something told her to stay here for a little longer.

"Things have been going pretty well haven't they?" Nathan suddenly asked, looking around at the school with a satisfied look. Glynda hummed in acknowledgment, remembering the fights she saw every day between the students and how they would grow each time.

"I take it Shop Class has been going well?" Glynda asked, while true, she knows the basics of what went on in other classes thanks to the teacher's lounge and shared dinner together, she wondered if Nathan's urge to walk was anything related to his responsibilities as a teacher.

"Yes, really well. Yang is probably going to start on her upgrade next week, Jaune will be ready for combat class, and Ruby has been taking to robotics like a fish to water. Can't say they could be better to be honest." Nathan said happily, although Glynda caught the somewhat tired undertone in his voice, most likely something that didn't relate to the class if he was being truthful.

"I feel as though your leaving something out." Glynda said, her years of working with Ozpin and James having given her quite the ears and eyes for reading people. At her words, Nathan merely chuckled.

"Yea, I suppose I am." Glynda took note of his quick admission, but remained quiet. "Its... the technology from Earth that I carry in the Pipboy. Theres enough data here to change the face of remnant, both in a good way, and in a devastating way. I've heard about Atlas and their scientists, and how they would be overly interested in me if they ever knew the details of my existence." Nathan said, allowing to vent another issue that has had him troubled for a while.

 _While I don't think Ozpin would just turn me over, I'm worried about what the news of my equipment could bring to the plate, especially the armor. That grade of power armor wasn't even normal on Earth, much less here in Remnant._ Nathan thought to himself, as he weighed the unintended consequences of using his weapons and armor so liberally.

"Thats understandable, considering." Glynda said, a small nod to go with her sentence. "But I don't think you have much to worry about. Even if Atlas knew of your technology, they would have to resort to drastic measures to go around Ozpin to get to you." Glynda's reassuring tone actually eased Nathan's mind a bit, but he refused to speak on how Ozpin himself was somewhat after the technology from Earth.

"I'll try to keep that in mind. And... I appreciate you coming out here, Thank you." At those words, the conversation ended, but the two of them stood in silence, watching the stars as the night went on. Glynda and Nathan were both content in each other's silent company, one thinking on the issues that plagued his mind, and the other wondering why Nathan's words made her feel so satisfied.

* * *

 **Author's notes**

 **I'm Ali!- sorry... work has been hectic, yadayada, excuses. This should have been out half a month ago, but with my new job, I've been coming home with relatively little energy, so Writing has taken a major backseat. Needless to say, I'm sorry. (It doesn't help that I've had an idea for ANOTHER CROSSOVER bubbling in my mind for months, and my brain won't let me forget about it, distracting me form writing on the stories I have.)**

 **Thankfully, the next chapter of Blades is already up to 2k so I'm starting to get back into the groove of writing once I come back to work. (I think.) I don't know when the next chapter of Shop Class will be out tbh. I'm hoping sooner rather than later, but I can't guarantee that. But anyways, I hope you all liked the chapter, and as always...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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